A Witch and her Vampire
by SixPerfections
Summary: Since she was a little girl Isabella Black has been hunted by the Volturi for reasons unknown. Her only protection is Victoria, a vampire unwillingly bound as her protector. On the run the two of them arrive in Forks and meet a family of vegetarian vampires. AU Femslash.
1. Prologue

**AN: Pairings, pairings galore! As a fair warning there will be FEMSLASH relationships in this fic. That means a romantic relationship between two (or more! possibly?) females. There will also be HET relationships in case anyone has a problem with that as well. **

** I can say there will be some love triangles and possibly squares. Bella and Victoria will be an item. :D**

**00**

**Prologue**

"Bella," said her father gently, pulling her up to sit on his lap, "do you remember how we told you some bad people wanted to hurt you?"

Eight year old Bella remembered and nodded. It had been around her last birthday when her mom and dad had pulled her aside and told her she couldn't go to school anymore because bad things wanted to hurt her and she needed to stay in the estate from now on so they could protect her. It was a little scary but the vague idea of 'bad things' trying to hurt her didn't strike terror into a bright little girl like Bella. Mostly she just missed her school friends.

Her dad looked at her mom who was seated nearby and they exchanged a weird look Bella couldn't figure out. He turned his attention back to her and with a slightly strained smile he asked, "do you know what a vampire is Bella?"

The little girl scrunched her forehead in thought. "Aren't they people who suck blood and do bad things?" she said uncertainly.

His smile faltered for a split second before coming back full force. "They aren't _people_ per se. They used to be. Now they just look like people but aren't really. They are really dangerous, faster and stronger than normal people. On top of that they each have some unique magical ability. They are undead, do you understand?"

Bella nodded even though she kind of didn't understand. She didn't want her dad to think she wasn't smart. He hugged her a little tighter and it felt nice.

"Now Bella there is a group of bad vampires who want to hurt you. There are a lot of them and they are really dangerous. That's why we need to give you some additional protections," he told her uncharacteristically serious.

"What kind of protections? And why do vampires want to hurt me?" asked Bella curiously. Though she thought maybe she should have been scared about the bad vampires she really wasn't. Her family was a wizard family after all. Her mom, dad, aunt, uncle and cousin who all lived with them on the estate were all really strong and amazing wizards. They could do the coolest things with their magic, from healing people, to protecting things, to shooting fire and lightning and all kinds of stuff. Her family was really strong and they wouldn't let any bad vampires get her.

"We don't know why they want to hurt you," said her father, and it worried Bella a little hearing him sound so grim. "But we'll find out. As to your protection," he said trying to find the right words, "we can make a vampire be your protector. By pure chance our wards caught one on our property. When we figured out what it could do we figured out we could use it to help protect you instead of eliminating it outright like we normally would. We have a ritual set up in the basement right now to make it so it can't hurt any of us and so it will be obliged to protect you. You need to be there so it will work. We'll be going there right now so we can get this taken care of. When we go down there don't be scared and do exactly as you're told, do you understand?"

Bella had rarely seen her father so serious so she just nodded, still not a hundred percent sure what was going. With a reassuring smile her dad set her down and took her hand, her mother sliding up and taking her other hand after giving Bella a reassuring smile of her own. Hand in hand with her parents Bella was led through the spacious mansion and down a nondescript door that led to the large underground complex of the ancestral home of the Blacks.

She gripped her parent's hands tighter as they led her down the stairs. The poorly lit passageways of the basement with their rough-hewn walls and narrow corridors had always scared Bella since she had gotten lost down there one time when she had been a little girl. They walked for minutes and minutes to areas Bella had never seen before. She was silently in awe at seeing that the sheer size and number of all the corridors and rooms underneath her house.

They came to a large wooden door that led into a very large torch lit room with no furniture save for a table pushed off to the side. Bella watched in wonder as her aunt and uncle stood around a large faintly glowing circle on the floor etched with all sorts of markings and writing that looked magical to Bella but she didn't have enough knowledge to even begin to decipher. Kneeling on the floor with her arms bound behind her with thick chains was a woman. She had a thick mane of fiery red hair that was obscuring her features. The woman looked to be a grown up but a lot younger than her parents. Her clothes were torn, dirty and disheveled and from what little she could see the woman herself wasn't in any better condition. Bella stared in open awe as her parents led her around the circle to the table set off to the side. Through the curtain of hair Bella thought she saw the woman following her with her eyes.

"Who is she?" asked Bella in a whisper, the circle and the situation starting to make her feel scared.

"That's the vampire honey. Remember we told you they look like people? Just remember they really aren't. They are the undead who prey upon the living," her mother told her seriously but not unkindly. She wrapped a protective arm around her daughter and Bella leaned in to the comforting touch.

Her mom helped her change out of her top into a sleeveless shirt. Bella shivered in the cold dungeon as her parents prepared something with herbs and a great deal of low pitched incantations to help focus their power. She tried to focus on what her parents were doing but kept stealing glances at the vampire with red hair. It looked like something – magic she guessed – was holding her in place kneeling on the floor. Occasionally Bella thought she could see the tensing of muscles underneath her clothes but the vampire woman hardly moved an inch. The only thing she seemed to have some measure of control over was the movement of her head. When it looked like she might turn to look in Bella's direction the young girl quickly looked away. Bella didn't want the vampire to catch her looking. She wanted to outright stare at the vampire but she knew that staring was rude and she didn't want to be rude.

Her mother turned to her and knelt down on the floor. "Hold still honey," she said and proceeded to use a brush to paint a brown liquid substance on her skin. Her mother painted symbols along her arms, and some of the components Bella was familiar with. They were shaped to help channel and define her magic and others to regulate her output to a set level. There were also some tied into her magic channels that linked to the mind but Bella didn't really know how those worked and there were a whole bunch of others she'd never even seen before. She shivered as her mother meticulously used the cold liquid to paint designs on her arms and face for the better part of a half hour.

When she finished her mom stood up and stepped back and her father replaced her kneeling to look at his daughter eye to eye. He had a strange sorrowful look on his face Bella didn't understand.

"Hold out your hands Bella," he told her.

She did and placed what looked like large ring of metal in her hands. It was rounded and smooth and Bella thought it might have been made of platinum. The inside of the ring was filled with carved runes that Bella couldn't even begin to interpret. She looked up at her father questioningly.

"Most of the work is done," he began, "all that is left is the collar. All you have to do is walk inside the circle and pour your magic into that ring. You'll be able to slip it around its neck then. Keep pouring your magic into it until it fits tightly and glows yellow. After that we'll be all done." He tried to give her an encouraging smile.

"So, do I do it now?" Bella asked shyly.

"Yes now. Don't take too long just do it quick, in and out."

He gave her a little push in the direction of the glowing magical circle and Bella began slowly walking towards it. When she set foot across the threshold she felt the tingling sensation of magic light up her magical senses. Slowly she moved towards the unmoving figure kneeling in the center. Now that she was inside the circle she could tell it was the designs on the floor and the chanting and pouring of magical energy into the circle that what was keeping the vampire immobile. The girl sensed the vampire really didn't like being restrained she hurried to her side so she could finish fast.

Shaking a little Bella moved her hand to the back of the vampire's neck. Hesitantly she moved her hair out of the way so she could see her neck without impediment. The vampire suddenly started shaking and Bella realized that meant the vampire had started struggling harder. With a start Bella suddenly realized the vampire probably didn't want to do this.

Bella felt that this wasn't right. It wasn't right to force someone to do something like this was it? She turned and walked back towards her parents. They were looking at her with surprised and worried expressions as she walked to the edge of the circle.

"I don't want to do this," she said, "I mean she doesn't want this," said Bella gesturing at the vampire. "Is this really ok?" she asked hesitantly.

She had expected sympathy from her parents. Instead she was surprised when her mother grimaced and her father's expression turned stony. "Bella, I know it's hard to understand but that's not a person. It's a monster, a monster that can be put to good use. Now be a good girl and finish putting on that collar like I told you to."

Bella hesitated. "Daddy, do we have to? I-"

"Isabella Marie Black," he father snapped in a sharp tone she had _never _heard from him before, "holding this containment up is very draining on your aunt and uncle. We are your parents and this is important. Turn around and do as you are told this instant. This is not a situation in which I can humor disobedience."

Bella gaped at her father and his stern stare made her realize she really didn't have a choice in the matter. She dipped her head and turned around, ring of platinum gripped tightly in her small hands.

She reached the vampire who had mostly stopped shaking but Bella could _feel_ her loathing and resentment with each ragged breath she took. The redheaded vampire had turned her head enough to look at Bella. The girl could see one eye through the curtain of hair and the naked hatred in them made her flinch.

"I'm sorry," Bella whispered softly before starting to pour her power into the metal in her hands. She could feel how it greedily drank her magic as the symbols painted all over her arms and face began to glow. When the pull on her magic slowed and then stopped Bella guessed the ring was ready. With some trepidation she put the edge of the ring against the back of the vampire's neck. As soon as she felt the touch the vampire began struggling and shaking all over again. To see the redheaded woman hating this so much and the fact that she was forcing it on her anyway made Bella start to cry.

With a soft pressure the ring went through her neck until it came out the other side. The platinum was now one continuous unbroken ring around the vampire's neck. As she had been told to Bella continued to pour her magic into the metal ring as it once again eagerly took her power. It began to shrink until it looked like a delicate metal choker around the vampire's neck. Bella continued to pour her magic into the object until she began to feel light headed. Just when she started getting dizzy the choker finally began to glow a brilliant golden light.

Bella watched as the spell that was keeping the vampire immobile seemed to collapse all at once. The vampire threw her head back and screamed in pain making Bella jump and trip over her own feet in fright, falling on the floor. The redhead screamed for a few long seconds as the choker around her neck continued to glow.

Eventually the glow stopped and the horrible screaming stopped. The redheaded vampire collapsed gracelessly as soon as the glow ceased completely.

Bella stared at the downed vampire, her breathing ragged and tears streaming down her face. When she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder unexpectedly she jumped and cried out in surprise. She looked up at the tired but proud face of her father.

"I'm sorry to place this burden on you Bella," he said solemnly, "but now you have a creature in your service who will protect you for the rest of your life. Her only other option was the torch so don't feel bad for it. Now come on you've had a trying day, let's get you some food and put you to bed. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to control your new vampire."


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Just thought I'd give a heads up vampires in this fic are different from traditional Twilight vampires. They are more a mix of Twilight and more Classical vampires. **

**For those of you who were concerned the endgame will be an F/F(with possibly another F) relationship. **

**00**

**Chapter 1**

"On the run for your life from the most powerful vampire coven in the world and you want to go to _high school_," said Victoria derisively, shaking her head in disgust. "Only you would want to do something this stupid."

"Well excuse me for wanting to have some semblance of a normal life," replied Bella tiredly, not really wanting to rehash the argument they'd had at least a dozen times before. "Besides you said we should be safe here for a while."

"_Should_ _be_ is not a guarantee. It's my opinion. I've been wrong before," she said, turning her head from the passenger seat to bore a hole into Bella with deep chocolate brown eyes. Victoria's penetrating look made Bella squirm in her seat.

"Look," said Bella, her voice giving away a slight tremble, "decision is made. I'm sure you'd prefer it if I lived in a bomb shelter until I died of old age but I _refuse_ to live that way. I can't live the rest of my life scared and hiding under a rock. I can't let the Volturi take anything more away from me. I just can't. I mean you can understand that can't you Tori?" Bella asked, eyes pleading.

If Bella was expecting sympathy from the vampire she was disappointed. "Your feelings will mean exactly shit if we're dead," she said before getting out of the car without another word.

Bella flinched a little at that as it reminded her how Victoria's life was tied to her own.

She got out of the car after Victoria and was not terribly surprised that nothing in the other woman hinted at the argument they'd just had in the car. Her face was smiling as she turned towards the sun and she clasped her hands over her head in a long languid stretch. The material of her tank top stretched dangerously against her generous chest and Bella had to fight to tear her eyes away. She had been around Victoria since she was eight years old but in the last couple of years it had been getting harder and harder to not let her eyes linger longer and longer on her protector.

If there was any small blessing in the universe it was that Victoria at least seemed not to notice her few stolen looks or her occasional blatant staring.

Bella jumped slightly at Victoria's voice. "Ready to go BB?" she asked using her childhood nickname, her voice brightening as she enjoyed taking in the morning sun.

Bella shouldered her backpack and walked next to the much taller redhead who stood nearly a whole head above her. "I thought you weren't going to call me that anymore, I'm not a little kid. Besides you can't call be BB here. My new papers say Isabella Swan remember? Not Isabella Black."

Victoria gave a chuckle, a deep rumbling sound that made Bella feel goose bumps up and down her arms. "You'll always be a kid to me BB," she said, turning to look at her with playful and amused eyes.

Bella had to stop herself from flinching at that. She wasn't a kid, she hadn't been one or felt like one in years. It stung badly to hear that Victoria thought of her that way. Not that it was exactly news to Bella.

"Let's just find our schedules," she said and sped up to walk in front of the redhead.

She walked ahead of Victoria the whole way, pointedly ignoring the looks they were getting from the students. Or rather she ignored the once over she got before everyone's eyes settled on Victoria. While Bella was an attractive girl Victoria looked like a wild Irish Goddess with her supernatural good looks and unruly red hair. Whenever the two of them were together it didn't take much for Bella to fade into the background.

Eventually she found her way to the administration office. With a forced smile she greeted the lady manning the desk.

"Isabella Swan and Victoria Lake. We're new today and we need our schedules?"

"Sure thing dear," the lady said amicably, "now, Swan and Lake, Swan and Lake," she muttered to herself as she looked through her papers.

If there was one thing Bella had never predicted about her vampire it was her need to make stupid jokes and puns. Making their names 'Swan Lake' was one of the least groan worthy things that Victoria had come up with over the years. It was irritating and endearing at the same time.

Things like that made it easy to forget that Victoria was a remorseless killer. When they actually got along it was oh so easy to forget.

The vampire in question strode up next to Bella and leaned against the counter close enough that their shoulders were almost touching.

"Still can't believe you insisted on separate classes. Ever hear of Columbine?" she whispered.

"As much as I like you we could both use a little time away from each other," Bella whispered back. "Besides if I'm in any danger you'll be able to feel it. Just relax, if we're lucky we're going to be here a while." She said referring to Forks in general.

Victoria said nothing but her body language said she wasn't happy. Bella sighed and hoped all of this didn't antagonize Victoria too badly. When Victoria was pushed too far she tended to lash out often with bloody results. While she couldn't hurt Bella directly she always found other ways of making her displeasure known.

When the secretary gave them their schedules Victoria turned on her heel and walked away without a word. Looking at her retreating back Bella wanted to call her back and say something to fix the tension between them. The problem was that Bella couldn't think of anything that would help. Victoria was all about safety and survival and Bella just wanted to have a life. Sometimes they just couldn't see eye to eye on some things.

Feeling a bit down Bella left to find her own classroom. She found it with plenty of time and took a seat near the back. When students started trickling in she had her book open but surreptitiously watched as they came in. They mostly all watched her in turn as they came in openly gawking at the new girl in school. It made her uncomfortable being the focus of so many people. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had been the center of attention.

A kind of cute blonde haired guy entered the classroom and brazenly approached her when he spotted her. He may have been attractive but the entirely too arrogant little smirk on his face turned Bella off to anything he might have to offer.

"Hi," he said to her, "mind if I sit here?" he asked pointing at the desk next to her.

"Sure. Be my guest," she said politely though she was fairly sure she was going to regret being raised to have such good manners.

"Hi, I'm Mike Newton," he said eagerly, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Bella B.. Swan," she said. It didn't seem like Mike noticed her little slip. She cautiously took his hand and he shook it a little too enthusiastically.

"So er…" he began, "nice jewelry. Is that a common thing where you're from?"

Bella wondered if he realized he was being subtly insulting or if it was unintentional. She looked down at her hands. On each wrist she had a bracelet with various charms and on each hand she had two large rings that were a bit too large to be fashionable. The two bracelets were foci for her power and each ring had been spelled by her. Making all of them had taken months and it had been meticulous and time consuming work. She was quite proud of them so Mike's clumsy insult irritated her greatly.

"Just my own personal style," said Bella before pointedly turning back to her book.

"Cool. It's, uh, sort of nice," he said.

So maybe he was trying to be nice now but Bella was soured to him already. Then again Bella thought that maybe she was being too hard on him. Being around a vampire nearly two centuries old almost exclusively had probably skewed her idea of what teenage interactions should be like. After all didn't television say it was almost mandatory for things to be awkward at first?

"Yeah… thanks," she said.

"So, has anyone shown you around Forks yet? Because I could. You know, show you around. We should like totally make a date of it."

She was right. It was awkward.

"Listen Mike you seem like a nice guy but I don't think I can date right now," _Especially since a certain vampire would probably kill me if I didn't run it by her first_, "I just moved in with my roommate. Things are really crazy with coming into school in the middle of the year. How about we just keep it friendly and see if there's anything there later on?" _Though I doubt it. Sorry Mike._

"Oh come on Bella don't be that way. What harm would it do to have one date? And hey you can bring your roommate along. The more the merrier for me you know?" he said, waggling his eyebrows.

He probably thought he was funny but it only made Bella wish she was good at Evocation, the branch of magic that allowed a Wizard to shoot fire and lightning and lances of pure force. She was unfortunately utterly hopeless at Evocation. What Bella was gifted at was Barrier magic, the art of shaping the primordial forces of the universe towards the strengthening of things and to the creation of protective shields. She briefly entertained the thought of trapping him in a self-sustaining barrier but that sort of thing would be way too much trouble to waste on one annoying guy not to mention it could possibly bring the wrath of the Circle down on her.

She briefly considered setting Victoria on him but that would just be too cruel.

"No thanks," she said again in a polite but chilly voice. He opened his mouth but was interrupted by the bell signaling the start of class.

As the class began Bella couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to date a boy like Mike Newton. Not Mike himself but a normal, average, everyday guy who didn't know about vampires, the Volturi, Wizards or the Circle of Magi. Sadly it wouldn't be much of a relationship. She was obliged to keep the existence of the supernatural secret and in most ways it completely defined her life. She had a vampire bound to her for God's sake! The only sort of person she could date would be another Wizard.

Or a vampire.

Tori's face flashed briefly in her mind before she shoved it down and tried to push it out of her head completely.

After class ended Mike stopped her with a hand on her arm as she was getting up to leave.

"Hey, how about you join me and my friends for lunch? I promise I'll lay off asking you out and I'll introduce you to some new people," he said.

Bella was surprised by the seemingly reasonable turn around. She politely agreed and Mike went off with a big goofy grin on his face. Shaking her head she went on to the next classroom. She doubted he would be paying much attention to her after he met Victoria in any case. Most likely he would start bugging her to set him up.

00

Classes came and went more or less without incident. She did hear some boys in letterman jackets talking about the new 'stacked' redhead and heard them say she was the only girl who could hold a candle to someone called Rosalie. It irritated her to hear some stupid boys objectifying Tori like that but there wasn't much she could do about it. When they started talking about how much they would love to 'tap that' she strode away in disgust and anger.

Irritated she marched into the lunchroom and got in line to buy lunch. After she got it she looked around and was slightly disappointed not to see Victoria even though she had been expecting her to skip out. A waving hand caught her attention and she could see it belonged to Mike Newton who was smiling and waving at her to come over. With a slight trepidation Bella plastered a smile on her face and went over to his table.

"Hey Bella, good to see you," he said. She took a seat across from him and next to a dark haired girl who smiled at her shyly.

"Well let me make introductions. As you know I'm Mike, but you knew that right? This here is Lauren and next to her is Jessica. This is my man Tyler and next to you is Angela. Everyone this is Bella Swan, new girl at our school," he said proudly. What he was proud of exactly Bella couldn't fathom.

"Hi, nice to meet you all," she said politely to the group.

Next came a barrage of questions which put to the test the knowledge of her cover story. She and her best friend met when they both became emancipated minors in Seattle. Yes she might need to get a part time job soon. No neither of them had boyfriends. No she didn't have a type. They moved to Forks because of the lower cost of living and they were both originally small town girls. Bella thought some of their cover story sounded kind of weak but Tori assured her it would all hold up.

Finally Bella had had enough and did a not so subtle change in topic. "It's really sunny outside today. I heard that it was supposed to be really overcast here all the time."

Angela seemed to take pity on her followed along with her conversation about the weather. "Yeah it's kind of a freak thing really. This almost never happens. Maybe it's a good luck omen for your first day of school," Angela joked.

"It is a nice day, I wish I could have blown off today and gone down to the beach in La Push," Jessica said wistfully. "I'm jealous of the Cullens. They probably all blew off today to go enjoy the sun."

"Are you kidding? They _always_ blow of school on nice days," said Lauren, "family camping trips my ass. I don't know how their parents can excuse them all missing school every time there's a nice sunny day. Have you seen the cars they drive? Those guys are all spoiled rotten."

Something about that nagged at the back of Bella's mind. "The Cullens?" she prompted.

Lauren was all too happy to fill her in. "They are like this perfect stepford family that think they are just too good to interact with anyone else. There are five of them, all of them kids of Dr Cullen and his wife. The thing is four of them are dating each other!"

"You make it sound so bad Lauren," said Angela, "they are all adopted. It's not like its incest or anything."

"It practically is! They all live together."

"Wait a minute," said Bella, the gears in her head turning, "why did you call them perfect and stepford? Are they super snobbish or something?"

"No, nothing like that," said Jessica, "it's just that well… the guys. I mean all three of them are like Godly good looking. I swear they're the three best looking guys in the school."

"Hey! We're here too," said Mike pointing to himself and Tyler.

"Well if you're going to be like that then it should also be said that Alice and Rosalie by far the hottest girls in school. Fair is fair, and it's true," said Tyler with a grin, trying to get a rise out of the girls.

"I hate that bitch Rosalie. She's such a snob," said Lauren with a look of disgust on her face.

"But she's hot!" insisted Tyler.

While they quibbled like that Bella processed the information she had just gotten in her mind. Five unrelated but apparently incredibly attractive teens who lived together. They always stuck together and didn't associate with anyone else. Plus they missed school on sunny days supposedly sanctioned by their parents. A cold feeling of dread clawed at her stomach.

It was just circumstantial. There couldn't be a coven of vampires living in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere Washington could there?

"Bella, aren't you going to introduce me?" said a slightly rough female voice behind her that Bella knew extremely well. The voice sent a shiver up and down her spine. The table had gone silent and all of them were gaping at Victoria in her tank top, cargo pants and leather wrist cuffs with the ever present platinum choker around her neck. Victoria could really play the punk/rocker teenager and she made it look _good_.

"Tori, these are Jessica, Lauren, Angela, Mike and Tyler," she said with a little trepidation. "Everyone this is Victoria Lake, my best friend and roommate."

"Hey guys, nice to meet you," said Victoria with a dazzling smile before squeezing herself in between Bella and Angela. "Just making sure you're treating my girl here right," she said to the group jokingly.

Bella looked at the faces around her to get their reaction. Predictably the two boys had yet to pick their jaws up off the floor and to her disgust Mike was blatantly staring at Victoria's chest. Jessica seemed in awe and Lauren looked upset and if she had to guess more than a little jealous. Angela just looked overwhelmed by having the new strange girl all up in her personal space.

"I always look out for Bella here you see. She tends to attract trouble like a magnet. I swear she'd be dead by now if she didn't have me watching out for her ass," she said, turning to Bella with a smile that let everyone know she was teasing.

Of course Bella knew better. Victoria liked to say things out in the open in a way no one would pick up on. Making sure she's being treated right is Victoria speak for making a threat assessment of the people she's suddenly decided to associate with. Teasing that Bella would be dead if it wasn't for her wasn't a tease – it was a reminder that Bella would be dead many times over if it wasn't for Victoria's meddling so she had better not get her hackles up about her sticking her nose into her business.

"So err Victoria… why, why don't you join us for lunch? You aren't eating or-or drinking, we could get you some uh juice or something," said Mike stuttering badly. Lauren looked at Mike and sent Victoria a death glare.

Victoria for her part let a slow wicked grin spread across her face as she looked at Mike. Bella was sure they boys couldn't decide whether to be scared or excited.

"I never drink… juice," she said with amusement shining in her eyes. The boys and everyone at the table looked confused and Bella had to suppress the urge to groan.

Victoria, the vampire, was quoting the famous line from Bela Lugosi's famous 1931 rendition of _Dracula_. It was a bad pun. A bad _vampire_ pun. Of course Victoria couldn't resist. The fact that only she and Bella would get why it was supposed to be funny didn't seem to bother the vampire in the least.

Victoria only stayed for a few minutes making the two boys at the table incapable of full coherent speech for the duration. Bella made sure to steer the conversation so the subject didn't come back around to the Cullens. If Victoria had all the information she had Bella wouldn't be surprised if the vampire demanded they leave Forks that very day. That just would not do. Bella would verify on her own if there was a vampire coven in Forks and then go from there. She did _not_ want to be dealing with a paranoid overprotective vampire especially not on her first day of school. If it turned out to be nothing then Victoria would be none the wiser.

**00**

**There was another pun in there I didn't explicitly mention. Can you find it? **


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: I thought I should mention the reasons this story is rated M. There will be action and pretty graphic violence. There will be monsters and horrors from beyond the abyss. There will be graphic sex between women. There will be bad jokes and worse punning on occasion. Continue at your own peril. You have been warned. **

**00**

Bella pulled into the driveway of their new rented home. It was a two story white house that had supposedly once belonged to the chief of police. In the four years since they had been on the run they had not stayed in one place for more than a few months. Bella really hoped they would be able to stay in that new cozy house long enough for it to start feeling like a home.

At the front door Bella pressed one of the rings on her hand against the white wood. For a few seconds nothing happened until she felt the untwisting of magic and the lowering of her wards. While Bella wouldn't be slinging fireballs or summoning eldritch creatures from the abyss anytime soon the magic she was good at was still incredibly useful. Anything wanting to get past her wards would need incredible amounts of magical muscle to pull it off. Anyone trying to get in with brute force alone would have some nasty surprises waiting for them. Bella was rather proud of how much she had learned to do over the past four years.

In that time she had really pushed her learning to keep them safe. To keep _them_ safe. Bella knew Victoria was always focused on her and keeping her safe but Bella would be dammed if she didn't keep Victoria safe as well. As unusual as their relationship was Victoria was literally the only person in the world Bella had left. If she lost Victoria too she didn't know what she would do. Bella would do literally anything to keep that from happening. She wouldn't let the Volturi take anything else from her.

After the wards came down Bella inserted the key entered with Victoria right behind her. As soon as they were inside Victoria pulled off the intricate Celtic knot ring she kept on her left thumb. Instantly her eyes changed from a chocolate brown to their natural vampire red. Bella couldn't help but look at them for a few long seconds. Her vampire eyes never failed to pull her in and frighten her at the same time. Bella always wondered if the blood of her victims was what tinted her eyes with such a pretty red color.

"That thing always feels weird after a while," commented Victoria absently as she walked into the kitchen. It was a thing that Bella had enchanted with some difficulty for her protector. It hid some of her more obvious vampire traits like her red eyes and her strangely glowing skin under the sun. It was a great piece of work, the only problems being that Bella had to recharge it periodically with her magic and Victoria said it felt way too strange after prolonged use. Bella had worked on and off on one that would recharge off a vampire's own innate magic but she hadn't had much luck with that one yet.

Bella watched with some concern as Victoria opened the fridge and poured herself a large glass of water. The vampire had once explained that drinking other liquids could take the edge off the vampire's huger for a little while, similar to how a hungry human could fill themselves up on water to make their hunger more bearable at least in the short term. Whenever Victoria drank anything other than alcohol it was because she was getting hungry.

"You need to hunt soon?" asked Bella quietly, leaning against the kitchen counter.

Victoria's eyes flicked over to her and she nodded. "Yeah. I think I'm going to shower and head out," she said holding Bella's gaze. Bella knew Victoria could always feel her discomfort whenever the subject of feeding came up. It had resulted in some rather ill-fated attempts to restrict Victoria's diet when she had been a young teen and it had led to war between the two of them. Now Bella was quietly resigned but still uncomfortable.

"It hasn't even been a week since you hunted," said Bella keeping her voice neutral.

"Being around so many humans all day is bad for my control. I'm going to have to feed more often to make sure I don't have any accidents," she said giving Bella a significant look. Bella's eyes widened at this revelation.

"I didn't know that," said Bella in a quiet voice.

"Well," drawled out Victoria, "if you have such a big problem with it we could always just stop going to school," she said giving Bella a smug little smirk at putting the girl in that dilemma.

"Well if you're hungry you have to hunt. I guess there's not helping that," said Bella with a tiny frown.

Bella thought about it, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. The three rules that were inscribed on Victoria's collar prevented the worst of it. She went over the limitations once again in her head:

_You will not harm any member of the Black family. _

_You will not kill any innocent humans. _

_You will not disobey Isabella Black. _

In theory the three rules along with the default function of the collar should have been enough for Isabella to make Victoria completely obedient and compliant. The actual truth of the matter was that the magic had limits and things could be left up for interpretation.

One of the most obvious that soon became apparent was that Bella could only give one or two 'orders' at a time before the compulsion of the oldest order became ineffective. It also turned out that more complicated orders were easier for Victoria to resist.

'Innocents' was also so vague Bella wished it had been better worded as Bella considered it the most important rule and the only one she herself might be tempted to brand a vampire with. Once during a particular rough patch between them Victoria had exploited this to hunt people she knew would upset Bella, like a mother of four young children who had served time as a young woman for a felony drug conviction. Sometimes Bella found it hard to reconcile all the things that Victoria was, protector, prisoner, predator, confidant, sometimes-enemy, sometimes-friend and someone who placed almost no value in human life.

Still they had come to an understanding and Bella trusted that Victoria only went after murderers and rapists and other violent criminals. But was it really ok if going to school meant Victoria had to hunt more often, leading to more human deaths? Even if the people Victoria went after 'deserved' it that didn't mean that Bella didn't feel any guilt when the vampire came home in pleasant and satisfied mood after a kill.

Was going to school really worth it? How much more often would she have to feed?

"I'm going to hop in the shower before I take off," said Victoria, giving Bella one last searching look before turning away and heading to her room. Bella's treasonous eyes drank in her curved figure as she walked away, feeling a tightening in her lower belly.

She sighed, shaking her head in dismay as she took her books over to the kitchen table to begin her homework. Her relationship with the vampire was already complicated enough without adding in her growing attraction. All it did was just raise questions without any comfortable answers. Bella didn't know if Victoria would even want her in _that way_, or if it was a smart thing to do, or if that was even what Bella really wanted. All she knew was that Victoria's piecing look and occasional touches were making her insides flip funnily and her chest tighten more and more recently.

Bella did her best to push those thoughts out of her head opened her biology book to start on her homework. She wanted the high school experience and doing homework was part of it. It didn't matter that she could just get a falsified diploma since that wasn't the point. Bella wanted the opportunity to go to school and spend a little time studying something else besides magic for a little while.

She heard the shower start up and tried not to picture Tori naked in the shower. Bella growled a little in frustration. She hated teenage hormones and it seemed like at seventeen they had finally started to hit her like a freight train. It was almost enough for her to wish for an ugly vampire roommate.

Twenty minutes later Victoria came out wearing dark jeans and a black button down shirt. Bella made sure to keep her eyes firmly on Victoria's face but couldn't help but give the woman a quick once over. Once she was out of her teenager outfit Victoria went from looking seventeen to about twenty five which Bella knew had been closer to the age she had actually been when she was turned.

"I'm taking the car," said Victoria while she grabbed the keys. "Make sure all the wards are up. Don't go outside. I've got my phone in case of anything."

Bella bobbed her head up and down. "Yes'ssum. Leave all the doors open, walk down a dark alley naked and covered in twenty dollar bills. Got it."

Victoria gave her a flat look but Bella could see the amusement behind her eyes.

"I know the drill Tori, relax. Besides your power would let you know if there was any trouble. Just go, come home quick." She said trying to give Victoria a reassuring smile.

"My power isn't always perfect with you Bella," she said softly.

When her parents had captured Victoria they realized her power was that she somehow always knew what to do in order to survive and stay alive. The reason it hadn't worked when Victoria had tried to sneak into the Black estate was because it had been covered in anti-magic wards and vampire powers were magical in nature. It was obvious from the start then that while Victoria's ability was powerful it wasn't always perfect.

When her parents forced her to collar Victoria with her own magic it had created a bond between the vampire and her. The default function of the collar was that if Bella died, Victoria would too. Her parent's idea was that if Bella was ever in danger the vampire would sense it and would know exactly how save her since saving Bella was the only way to save herself. It had worked. The only problem was that it seemed _sometimes_ the power didn't take into account how far away they were from each other giving Victoria little or not enough time to react.

"Well even then, still, relax. Get going before I start thinking too hard about what exactly you're going to be doing," Bella said.

"BB, you have _no_ idea what I'm going to be doing," she said in a blatantly suggestive tone before winking at Bella and heading towards the door.

"Put up the wards!" she called out over her shoulder as the door swung close behind her.

Bella stood up and did just that, taking a full minute turn on her carefully applied wards once again. She wondered at that last statement before she decided it was just Tori being Tori. Probably. She found she didn't want to think about it and went back to finishing the last of her homework.

00

It didn't take her long to remember she had another bit of homework to do before Victoria returned. Bella got up and went to her room to use her computer. The room was what you would expect in a house you hadn't personalized. Beige walls with no decoration yet, some older but well maintained furniture that came with the house and a double bed. Her things were still half in boxes strewn around the room. It was almost dark out now so Bella turned on the shaded lamp on her nightstand and fired up her laptop.

The more she thought about it the more unlikely it seemed that a coven of at least five vampires was living in tiny Forks and going to high school. Over the years Bella had learned a great deal about vampires and vampire habits from both talking to Victoria and reading works on those wizards who researched them. Vampires overwhelmingly limited themselves to covens of no more than three members. Their nature made it difficult to peacefully coexist with any number larger than that. There were exceptions and there _were_ covens with numbers that were much higher but that was inevitably due to the some vampire's power making it possible. A rare powerful coven out in the middle of nowhere Washington didn't seem to track. It would also be very hard to feed so many vampires in a sparsely populated area without drawing a lot of notice. If a vampire coven chose to stay stationary rather than nomadic they tended to do so large populated cities for just that reason. An extra dozen people missing per month in Los Angeles or New York was unlikely to raise any eyebrows.

She knew the best way to find out if there really were vampires in Forks would be to research people that went dead or missing on a monthly basis and see if there were enough to sustain a vampire presence. Three hours later Bella was breathing a sigh of relief. The number of missing or suspiciously murdered people per month in a radius around Forks was far too low to support even a small coven of vampires. Closing her laptop she wondered if the mysterious Cullens were some other type of supernatural creature. It would be odd but not unheard of. Maybe they were a group of fey masquerading as humans, or kitsune, or shadow spirits or any other of the broad range of supernatural critters that liked to wear human shape. Or maybe they were just a strange group of regular humans.

Feeling relieved that Forks was vampire free Bella stood up and stretched. Vampires in Forks would have been a nightmare.

00

"_Do you have the information I want?" _

"_**But of course Master." **_

"_Where is she?"_

"_**In the north western United States, most likely Washington." **_

"_Can't you narrow it further?" _

"_**Care to give me a piece of your power? The unwilling magic of another is only worth so much." **_

"_I don't think so." _

"_**Then we have nothing further to say to each other." **_

00

A few hours later that evening Bella stood in front of the stove over a pasta sauce she was making. She was blaring music from her Ipod with headphones on, dancing in place while she stirred her creation with a wooden spoon. She was so absorbed in what she was doing she never noticed when someone entered the house.

Bella jumped out of her skin when she felt someone put a hand on her hip and lean into her from behind. Her skin burned from the touch and her heart started to beat faster. An involuntary sound of pleasure escaped her lips when Victoria leaned in further and rested her chin on her shoulder. Embarrassed by the noise she'd made Bella tried half-heartedly to escape but the vampire easily held her in place against the stove.

Through her pounding heart she realized Victoria had said something. Reaching down she turned the volume in her Ipod all the way to zero. "What did you say?" asked Bella, her voice coming out a little shaky.

"I said," husked Victoria, her breath only inches from her ear, "you looked like a cute little housewife, slaving in front of the stove and cooking me dinner. Too bad I can't eat your stinky human food but it's still a nice image."

Something was wrong. Victoria's words were just a bit slurred and she was acting out of character. Bella couldn't remember the last time Victoria had been this affectionate.

"You don't sound quite like yourself Tori. What's going on?" said Bella quietly, guiltily enjoying the feel of the vampire pressed up against her.

"Oh you know," she whispered in a low voice. Bella could feel her breath against her ear. "Ate some people after a drug deal went bad. They were stone drunk and high as a kite, I swear they were so full of that stuff I don't even know how they were still standing." Said Victoria as she chuckled into her ear.

Bella's breathing sped up. Standing with the taller woman pressed against her and hearing Victoria husk in her ear was turning her on and making her feel guilty. She shouldn't be feeling heat pooling in her lower belly while Victoria was telling her about killing someone. Bella sucked in a sharp breath when she felt Victoria's lips clamp around her earlobe and suck harshly.

"Tori you, you're high? Or drunk? Is that why you're doing this?" said Bella, fighting the urge to just lean back into her vampire and tilt her head back submissively giving Victoria easy access to her neck.

The feeling of fangs scraping against her earlobe made Bella gasp. "I guess I am. The bottle of Jack I had in the car helped out too." Victoria ran her nose down the length of Bella's neck and inhaled deeply. She growled and wrapped both arms around Bella, holding the younger girl so tightly it became almost uncomfortable.

"You smell so good. I want to taste you," she whispered seductively into her ear.

Victoria had never asked to bite her before. It was that fact that managed to get through her aroused haze.

"Victoria, stop." She said quietly lacing a tiny bit of power into her voice.

Victoria stopped moving, stopped breathing. Almost right away she could feel Victoria's intense displeasure and then anger. She absolutely hated when Bella used the collar to make her obey and Bella used it as little as possible. However Victoria was intoxicated and that scared her. An unpredictable vampire was dangerous and Bella wasn't comfortable tempting fate with the limits of the collar. Victoria has never been so blatantly physical with her before. That was proof enough that something was off.

"Please step back," she said quietly and Victoria did so with a slight trembling on her limbs. Bella missed the contact as soon as it was gone.

Bella turned around very aware that Victoria was still in her personal space. Bella was shocked by the amount of loathing in Victoria's red eyes.

"Tori…" she began tenderly.

"You know occasionally I forget that you keep me as a slave. Occasionally I forget that you're the enemy," she said in such a low dangerous voice it made Bella shrink back in instinctual fear. The vampire leaned in just a little bit closer. "I don't think I'll be making that mistake again."

With that Victoria turned and walked away. Bella managed to make it to her room and close the door before she began to cry.

00

**AN: I know people are anxiously awaiting the Cullens. Don't worry they'll be there next chapter. Promise. **


	4. Chapter 3

**AN1: I did make vampires here somewhat different from Twilight vampires. One, they are actually flesh and blood as opposed to hard stone. I never understood the appeal of making out with a statue. Two, they are more like classic vampires in that they can feed from humans without killing them as long as they are not too hungry and have enough control. There is no venom to worry about. Three, every vampire in my world has a power/talent. There are no exceptions. **

**AN2: I changed the title from **_**Wizard **_** to **_**Witch**_** because it sounds better. However every magic using person, including Bella, will still be referred to as a Wizard. **

**00**

The next day Bella quietly got up and went through the motions of getting ready for school. She'd spent the better part of the night berating herself for overreacting the night before and screwing up with Victoria. Just when they had been really getting along by their standards she had to go and screw it up. It's not like Victoria could have really hurt her. In the end Bella had just panicked and was kicking herself hard for it.

She'd gotten ready and walked by Victoria's room to find the door closed. She thought about knocking but knew from experience that it was better to leave Victoria alone in situations like this. Bella went to the kitchen and made herself a breakfast of cereal, eating slowly without really tasting it and shooting the occasional glance in the direction of Victoria's door. Truth be told she didn't even know if the vampire was still in the house. Realizing she would be going to school alone that day Bella washed her dishes and got her things together to leave. After hesitating she wrote a quick note and left it on the kitchen table.

_I'm sorry, I screwed up. Please don't hate me. Can we talk about it tonight? _

Still feeling rotten she got in her car, a nondescript black Honda civic, and headed for her school. On the way she made an effort to put the problem with Victoria aside and enjoy going to school as much as she could. She'd fought for it and she was going to get as much out of school as she could for as long as it lasted.

She parked and rushed inside barely setting foot in her first class just as the bell rung. Bella gave the teacher an apologetic smile for almost being late before she turned to find a seat. She saw only one seat was open when she saw the guy behind the empty seat staring at her with something like suspicion and displeasure on his face. Bella feels put off before she notices some details that hadn't filtered through her brain at first glance.

He was gorgeous. His skin was smooth perfect pale alabaster unmarred by any imperfections. His features were almost painfully handsome and boyishly charming at the same time. Then there were his unusually colored eyes. They were golden and almost certainly supernatural. Stretching her senses Bella could detect that this was a being that possessed magic.

_He must be one of the famous Cullens_, she thought, forcing herself to stop staring and take the seat in front of him hoping she hadn't been too obvious in her staring.

Bella was glad that she'd been proven right. He wasn't a vampire. All vampires had red eyes after all so the guy sitting behind her had to be something else. Off the top of her head there was only one type of supernatural being who might impersonate inhumanly beautiful youngsters and mingle amongst humans while at the same time having the distinct taste of magic. She was almost sure the guy behind her was one of the Fey probably hailing from somewhere in the Winter Lands of the Unseelie, out amongst the humans to enjoy himself and possibly trick some gullible mortal into a contract that would undoubtedly turn out to be a fool's deal. It would also explain why they preferred to avoid sunny days. Well, Fey she could deal with. At least it wasn't vampires.

As she sat she half listened to her teacher drone on as she thought about what, if anything, she and Victoria should do about a cadre of Fey taking up residence in Forks.

00

The first thing that hit him was the smell. He smelled vampire.

Edward's head snapped up to look up as a human girl rushed in just as the bell rang. He almost let out a subvocal growl before he realized the girl was not a vampire at all. She was human. He took another breath and smelled the human's scent underneath the scent of vampire on her. It was beautiful. She smelled better than any human he could ever remember smelling. Against his will he felt his fangs drop at her delicious intoxicating smell.

Still he was immediately more concerned about why this human girl smelled like she had recently spent time with a vampire he didn't know. When he tried to read her mind he found to his absolute shock he couldn't. He frowned as this had never happened before. Suddenly Edward was finding the situation very disturbing and he couldn't help but worry that this was a threat to his family.

She finally looked in his direction and Edward saw much to his chagrin that the only seat left open was the one in front of him. He wasn't in danger of losing control and attacking her but her extremely attractive scent would make it hard to concentrate on much else. Unhappy with the situation overall he couldn't keep the displeasure off his face. It had started as a perfectly good morning and suddenly everything seemed to be going all wrong.

She looked at his face and he saw the surprise on her face once she got a good look. Edward didn't know whether to be annoyed that another girl would apparently be drooling over him or smirk at how the human girl reacted to his looks. She herself was actually quite the beauty in an understated way which Edward found immensely appealing. He never could like women who flaunted themselves.

The girl took the seat in front of him while managing not to blatantly stare which was points in her favor. He found himself staring at her back, suspicion and feelings of being drawn towards the girl warring inside him. Her tantalizing smell was not helping as he couldn't help but fantasize as to what her blood would taste like if she smelled so divine. In the end however suspicion won out and he stopped breathing as to not let himself become distracted. Subtly he drew his cell phone and at vampire speed typed out a text message to his siblings at the school explaining the situation.

_Met new girl in first period, can't read her mind and she smells of a strange vampire. Keep eyes and ears open for any information. _

With that out of the way Edward turned his attention back to the girl, his eyes firmly on her as he tried over and over to read her mind. Every time he failed and every time he became more fascinated with the mysterious girl.

00

Emmett was sitting at lunch with his four 'siblings' paying close attention to them. Everyone was tense and Emmett couldn't help but be somewhat amused by that since it was fairly unusual to see his whole family have the equivalent of a collective apoplexy over some girl who Eddie couldn't read and smelled faintly of vampire. Alice and Jasper had similar looks that were simultaneously thoughtful and worried. Rose, the light of his life, looked like she wanted nothing better than to have something to smash to pieces. When anything threatened their family she was the first to want to take direct and drastic action and while he loved that protectiveness about her he couldn't help but find her bottled up aggression just a little bit funny. However he knew better than to even _hint_ at any of that out loud or he knew he would be the one she would be taking out her frustrations on… and not in a fun way.

The last was Edward and he looked like he had eaten the sourest candy on the planet or like someone had kicked him in the family jewels. Edward sent a scowl his way and Emmett just smiled at him, completely unapologetic. With his talent Edward was almost never put off balance by other people so it was fun to watch while it happened. It would do him some good not to have the edge in every single situation and serve him up a bit of humble pie.

Emmett himself didn't understand what the big worry was. There was one human girl who Edward couldn't read, so what? There was an almost endless variety of people with some small magical talent out there. Sure they were rare but they were well known to exist. Just because one human had a talent to protect her mind didn't make her some big clear and present danger.

The vampire smell also wasn't a big deal as far as Emmett was concerned. Either the girl – Isabella, or Bella as he had overheard students call her – knew a vampire and about vampires or she didn't. If she didn't know it probably just meant she sat too close to a vampire in a bus or at the movies or something for a while. If she did know then they were probably dealing with another vegetarian vampire who meant to turn her eventually. That got him a scathing look from Edward. Emmett just gave him an infuriating smirk that just made Edward scowl harder. If he wanted to think that they were evil and dammed that was his prerogative but Emmett sure as hell wasn't about to apologize for having a different opinion.

Even though he'd gotten used to it Edward's inability to turn his talent off was still annoying. He couldn't imagine anyone ever dating the guy since any little bad thought or doubt they might have he would instantly know about. Maybe that Bella girl would be the only girl in the universe who could stand dating him. That made Edward have an incredulous look of surprise on his face. Emmett smirked and very deliberately thought that a girl who could hide from his powers might just be his soul mate if he didn't scare her away with his self-pitying emo routine. By the stunned and thoughtful look on his face Emmett wondered if he'd just given his 'brother' ideas.

"So what have we found out?" asked Jasper to everyone at the table, shooting glances at Bella who was sitting a few tables away with Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley's group.

"Her name is Isabella Swan. She just transferred in from Seattle. Supposedly she moved here from there with her roommate and they are both emancipated minors," said Rosalie, her tone clearly saying she wasn't happy with that story.

"I read some people's minds and her 'roommate' is more than a little suspicious," said Edward, "she looks like us. Unnatural beauty, unnatural grace, people seem drawn to her and scared by her all at the same time. Only thing was her eyes were brown not yellow or red." He was clearly unhappy with this news if his deepening scowl was anything to go by.

"You think she's a vampire then?" asked Jasper.

Edward shrugged. "I suspect so even though I can't explain how she has brown eyes and could walk around outside on a sunny day. It would explain why she smells of vampire though if this 'roommate' of hers is one," he said with a growl at the end.

"Jealous?" said Emmett teasingly.

The angry glare Edward sent in his direction made him wonder if he'd hit the nail on the head.

"Could it be her talent? To be able to disguise her obvious vampire traits?" asked Jasper thoughtfully.

"I suppose it's possible," replied Edward.

"You've been awful quiet Alice. Can you tell us anything about what's going on?" said Rosalie.

Alice seemed to zone out for several long moments before turning to them and shaking her head. "I can't explain it. It feels like something is blocking my visions deliberately. I can't see anything about Isabella," she said sounding just a little bit panicky. Jasper put his arm around her and pulled his wife close. Emmett knew that Alice's visions had never failed her before and it must be disconcerting to not being able to rely on them when they had two unknowns to worry about.

"What about you Jasper? Can you get anything out of her?" he asked.

The vampire nodded. "I can feel her emotions just fine. Whatever is stopping Alice and Edward's powers from working doesn't seem to work on me."

"What's she feeling now?" asked Edward.

Jasper looked over at the girl in question for a few moments before answering. "She's trying to follow along with the conversation but she's distracted and worried."

"Her roommate didn't come to school today right? Maybe something happened," suggested Emmett.

"Maybe she left town but I doubt we'd be that lucky," said Rosalie.

"Do you think she noticed anything different about you when you were in class with her Edward?" asked Alice still leaning into Jasper.

Edward scrunched his forehead in thought. "I didn't think so at the time but it's hard to tell. Humans usually gawk and stare the first time they see us no matter what. Though if she is familiar with vampires I imagine she did notice a few things."

"If she didn't run screaming maybe that means she knows about vegetarian vampires," suggested Emmett.

"Even a red eye vamp wouldn't attack someone in the middle of a classroom. Still if we're going to approach them we have to know how much we can tell," said Jasper.

"We're going to approach them?" asked Rosalie, hinting that she thought having anything to do with them would be a bad idea.

"We may not have a choice. We have to find out what we're dealing with. Our only other option is violence and we're not going to do that unless there isn't any other choice," said Edward. Though there was a bit of reluctance everyone around the table agreed.

"Well, why don't we invite them over to the house?" said Emmett. At the round of incredulous looks he got he realized he needed to explain more.

"Look, one of us goes over and invites them over and words it in a way that only someone in the know would get the real reason behind it. If Bella knows about vampires and they want to live here she'll know they'll have to deal with us eventually even if it's just to agree to not go after each other. If she doesn't know it should become pretty obvious by whatever response she gives. I say better just to go straight up and ask."

Jasper absently stroked his wife's hair as he thought that over. "That might work. Not a bad plan at all. Minimizes the risks to us pretty handily."

"Didn't know you had such a big brain under all those muscles Em," said Alice teasingly seemingly starting to get over the funk of her powers failing her.

"Of course my baby's smart, not just incredibly hot," said Rosalie seemingly pleased with her husband's plan. She leaned in and gave Emmett a kiss on the lips which caused him to smile and return it with enthusiasm.

"I'll go talk to her," said Edward suddenly.

"Maybe Jazz should do it," said Alice, "he'll be able to get more out of it since his powers work on her."

"No," said Edward firmly, "he can monitor what's going on from a distance. I'm going to be the one to go talk to her."

"Whoa, since when did you become boss of the family Eddy?" said Emmett, a little annoyed by Edward's attitude.

"Just let me do it," said Edward. The _it's personal_ hung in the air left unsaid.

"Sure, whatever. Just use more tact than usual Eddy boy," said Emmett giving in. Everyone else readily agreed even if they were a little puzzled as to why Edward was so insistent.

"I think Edward's got a crush," muttered Emmett in a faux whisper that everyone clearly heard. Most of the vampire's couldn't conceal small smiles at their brother's expense.

"I'll catch her after school," said Edward, a little annoyed at the light ribbing. Emmett just smiled to himself at that. Didn't Edward know by now? Getting annoyed was just the way to invite more teasing. Eddy would be getting jokes about his wedding plans to the Bella girl before the day was over.

00

After the last bell rang Bella decided to go to the school library. She wanted to get her homework done before going back home where she most likely would not be able to concentrate. Sitting down she took out her books and began to work.

She'd been working for almost twenty minutes before she felt someone walk up behind her. That person walked around the desk and sat down in the chair next to her. It was that same handsome guy from first period, the one she had assumed was one of the famous Cullens.

"Can I help you?" asked Bella neutrally. She tried her best to act polite and professional. Even in the supernatural circles politeness was always well received. At the very least they would be nice to you right back before they tried to kill you in most cases. She was a little nervous but she knew that in a semi crowded library she was as safe as she could reasonably expect. No one liked vanilla humans getting an eyeful of the supernatural. It just wasn't done.

The boy gave her a smile and it made him so attractive and handsome it was almost difficult to look at. Bella reminded herself not to be swayed by a pretty face. Anything that took such a human shape was more likely than not someone who purposefully wanted to draw humans in and have them lower their guard.

"I'm Edward Cullen. I talked it over with my family and we thought it might be a good idea for me to come over and introduce myself," said the boy, keeping the smile on his face and studying Bella closely.

Bella paused trying to think of the best way to respond. "That would be for the best. I'd like to make sure there are no misunderstandings between me and your people," she replied carefully. Inside Bella's mind was whirling trying to figure out how she had been identified as something other than a regular human so quickly. Were they able to sense her magic?

"My people?" Edward asked carefully. He was clearly prompting to see if she knew what they were.

Bella bit her lip in thought and decided it would be best just to put her cards on the table. "You're Fey." She said.

Edward raised an eyebrow at that but otherwise his face remained impassive. His silence made Bella think she was right on the money.

"And what are you?" he asked her.

"I'm… special," she said, trying her best at an enigmatic smile.

He didn't look pleased with her answer. "And your roommate?"

Bella was a little put off and worried that they already knew about Victoria and wondered if they suspected there was something unusual about her too. Bella's smile got a lot more frosty at his question. "She's special too," she said with a hint of challenge in her tone.

Edward scowled at that and looked ready to demand answers. Bella cut him off before he could start.

"Don't start trying to intimidate me into talking, I know how the game is played. I already gave you one piece of information for free as a sign of goodwill. Now did you come over here so we could come to some sort of understanding or are we going to have to talk to your leader for that?"

Edward stayed silent as he studied her. "We could just run you out of town. There's only two of you," he said causally but the implied threat was clear.

Bella's eyes narrowed at that. She was not one to get angry but when some supernatural critter threatened her and her family it was a whole different ballgame. "Trying to lay a hand on us would be a bad idea little fairy. A very _very_ bad idea," she hissed loudly at him. The people around the library gave her concerned looks but she could care less as she locked eyes with the boy in front of her.

Edward seemed taken aback by her sudden fierceness. "Peace Bella, that was rude of me. No one in my family wants to resort to violence. I just wanted to see how you'd react. I apologize," he said. Bella thought he at least seemed sincere.

Bella slowly sat back down. She hadn't realized she'd half risen out of her seat. "As long as you remain civil from now on I suppose this minor incident can be overlooked," she said trying to sound gracious. The truth was she was shaking inside with nervousness and adrenaline and trying desperately not to let it show. Dealing with supernatural entities was always a lot of high stakes posturing and subtle maneuvering. Bella hated to play the game but right now she had to. Usually it was Victoria who did that, she was so much better than Bella at that sort of thing.

Edward nodded slightly and just looked at her for several long moments until it started to become uncomfortable. Bella forced herself not to squirm or let her nervousness show as she met his gaze with what she hoped was a polite but slightly bored look. After far too long Edward was the one to look away first and Bella was relieved feeling like she had won some minor victory.

He reached in his pocket and produced a blank business card. He took out a pen and wrote on the card before handing it to Bella. Cautiously she took it and looked it over.

"It's the address to our family home. Why don't you and your roommate come by and meet us tonight? You have our guarantee that you will not be harmed. We just want to talk," he said.

Bella worried her lip as she looked at the card considering her options. Promises held a lot more weight in the supernatural world than they did in the human one and to the Fey in particular their word was nigh unbreakable. Doing so had serious consequences. Besides with Victoria's power and some preparation beforehand it should be relatively safe.

"Sure," said Bella finally, "we'll come by tonight."

00

After that Bella packed up her things and exited the library. Edward found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her the whole time as she walked out the doors and turned down the hall.

When she was gone Edward got up and walked to the classroom across the hall from the entrance to the library. Inside were his four siblings waiting for him. They had been hiding by close enough to hear the conversation and to rush in to help on the odd chance Bella Swan turned out to be dangerous.

"Sounds like that went well _little fairy_. Methinks Bella's got some claws behind those sexy girl next door looks!" said Emmett. That earned him a disgruntled scowl from Edward and a playful swat to his stomach from Rosalie.

"I'm not sure if I should find it adorable or insulting that she thinks we're fairies," said Alice though by the smile on her face she was clearly more amused than upset.

"I guess it's understandable how she might mistake us for Fey. Though that still leaves the question open if she knows about vampires. If I had to guess I'd say chances are pretty good," said Jasper thoughtfully.

"Hope she doesn't panic when she realizes she's wrong about what we are," said Rosalie and everyone had to agree with that. All of them were fairly well versed in the supernatural. What dangers one might expect from one of the Fey were completely different from the dangers posed by a vampire.

"Will we have to report her to the Volturi if she knows?" asked Alice worriedly.

"Not if she's somehow magical or supernatural herself. It's the regular humans and governments that the secrecy law applies to. Given that she has a shield of some sort we can always make the case that she is supernatural. Certainly no regular humans have that," said Edward.

"Don't forget that she's probably already living with a vampire. We'll have to wait and see what that's all about. This vampire might be her lover or something," said Jasper.

Edward let out a low growl at that caused everyone to turn and look at him.

"I don't think that's the case at all," said Edward sounding uncharacteristically upset.

All of his family looked at Edward with varying degrees of curiosity and confusion.

"Oh-kay, well how about we get home and update Esme and Carlisle on all the exciting happenings today. Then Edward can brood about his first crush," said Emmett teasingly but it had some truth to it. Edward had never shown even a remote interest for any woman until today.

"You guys go ahead I'll be along shortly," said Edward. They all gave him odd looks but didn't question him as the filed out of the classroom. Once he was alone Edward sat down heavily in one of the chairs.

Though Emmett might have been joking at lunch the more Edward thought about it the more right it seemed. Everyone was right that it was almost impossible to have a relationship with someone whose mind you inadvertently read whenever you were together. It made perfect sense that the perfect person for him, his mate, would be someone who was immune to his power. After talking to her in the library Edward was convinced that perfect person meant just for him was Bella Swan.

She was just so full of life, polite and demure as a proper lady should be. The fact that she smelled intoxicatingly heavenly to him only further reinforced his conviction that she was perfect for him. Then when she felt she and her roommate were threatened she was so fierce, it was beautiful. Still a lady like that should have a man to protect her so she never felt the need to bring out her strong protective instincts. Edward thought that meant she would make a good mother and lamented how that would not be possible for them.

Edward couldn't contain a growl deep in his chest when he thought about another vampire being so close to what he had started thinking of as his Bella. At least it was a female and Edward already knew Isabella was far too wonderful a young lady to ever engage in any shameful and immoral romantic liaisons with another woman. Bella had far too much class and carried herself with far too much dignity for that. Still it was possible he would have to try and pry her away from the redhead he had seen in other people's memories.

Once she saw what a great guy he could be Edward had no doubt Bella would fall into his arms so he wasn't too worried. It had to be fate that brought them together. After all they were perfect for each other.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN1: This is by far the longest chapter yet coming in at almost 7k words. I had to stop in the middle of everything I thought would be in this chapter because it was getting too long. Never the less I'm happy with how this turned out. **

**AN2: One last change with the wizard/witch thing and this is the last one I swear. For women the terms wizard and witch will from now on be used interchangeably. They are the same thing in this world. For males only the term wizard will apply. **

**Enjoy!**

**00**

Bella arrived home still in a post stress haze from her little meeting with the male Fey in the library. She was still shaking like a cold Chihuahua and felt a desperate need to be held, to be comforted. In a pinch Bella had always been able to perform and thankfully choking under pressure had never been one of Bella's problems when things inevitably went sideways. The aftermath however was a different story. Coming off an adrenaline high Bella always felt weak and shaky as all the fear and tension seemed to catch up to her all at once. If anyone was to poke her or shake her too hard she thought for sure she would just fall apart in pieces right on the living room floor. In times like those Bella only had Victoria to help her through it. Unfortunately they were on the outs right now and it didn't take Bella long to figure out that the vampire wasn't home.

The young witch went straight to the bathroom and got into the shower. She turned the water as hot as she could stand it and used copious amounts of the watermelon scented body wash she preferred. Bella knew it wasn't a very grown up scent to be using but she didn't care. It was a reminder from her childhood when she was a little girl and her mother had washed her hair with watermelon scented kid's shampoo. There was very little Bella had left from that life and she would take any reminders she could of better times.

After a very long shower she felt like she was almost back to normal and realized she needed to get out and get going before it got too late. Bella wrapped a towel around herself and wrapped one around her hair and went to her room. Inside she sat down on her bed and grabbed her cell phone. She pushed the button for the only number on her speed dial and made a call with a little bit of apprehension fluttering in her stomach.

On the first ring the line was picked up. "Yeah?" came Victoria's voice, flat and devoid of the teasing and good humor Bella had gotten used to.

"Tori," Bella began, suddenly feeling unsure of herself "Um… where are you?"

"Out. Is there something you want?" she said in an unfriendly voice bordering on hostile.

Bella winced at her tone. After her screw up the night before she had expected this sort of treatment but that didn't make it any less unpleasant for her. It hurt and made her a little panicked whenever things were bad with Victoria.

If there was one thing Victoria hated more than anything it was being reminded that she was a prisoner who at any time could have her free will taken away. The witch had used her power over Victoria in a frivolous fashion because in reality she had never been in any danger. Bella had screwed up badly. She had no idea how she was going to make this right.

Instead of worrying about her heartache Bella got to business. "We have a situation. Turns out there is a cadre of Fey posing as teenagers at the school, probably Winter Unseelie. One of them approached me after school and said they want to talk to us tonight. I don't know how much they know but I'm pretty sure they at least know neither of us are exactly vanilla humans."

There was a pause. "Are you sure about what they are?" Victoria asked, some of the hostility leaving her tone and being replaced with professional caution.

"Sure as I can be. Nothing else I can think of takes the form of inhumanly beautiful young humans, stinks of magic and avoids sunny days. It all screams Winter to me."

"That sounds like vampires too."

Bella shook her head even though Victoria couldn't see it. "Trust me. It's not vampires."

There was a long pause before Victoria spoke again. "All right. I guess we better pack some iron just in case then. As long as you're sure they promised safe passage without any loopholes."

"I'm sure."

"What exactly did they say?"

They talked for another half hour, Victoria sliding into her bodyguard mode and making Bella tell her absolutely everything that happened three times, word for word. Bella endured it with good grace both because she trusted Victoria and she was willing to take any little opportunity to earn points with her protector. It sort of reminded Bella of police dramas where the cops would always make people tell the same story over and over again hoping to jog any additional details loose. Eventually Victoria seemed satisfied she had gotten everything she was going to out of Bella though she still sounded wary and suspicious. No surprise there. The day Victoria was remotely open and welcoming to anything dangerous around her would be a cold day in hell indeed.

00

Victoria returned to their home about an hour before they were supposed to show up at the home of the Fey. Bella tried to engage her in conversation but unless it was about the business at hand Victoria only gave short terse answers or ignored her altogether. If Bella had been doing that she would have felt petulant but with Victoria it came across as a dignified snub and it hurt Bella. She was a sensitive girl and there was no one in the world who mattered more to her than Victoria, she had no one else left. Before too long she resigned herself to work in silence as they got ready for their meeting.

Victoria secured two daggers with high iron content, one in her boot and the other in her lower back. Bella herself took iron shavings she might use in a shield and made sure her bracelet foci and rings were in place. Another focus she didn't normally take with her was her wand which looked more like a wooden rod than something you would see in Harry Potter. It was as thick as the thumb and carved with all sorts of arcane symbols and runes that would make it dramatically easier to focus her magic. It was a general purpose focus that wasn't especially good at any one thing but could help her work just about any kind of magic.

Bella secured it up the sleeve of her long leather coat that was the last magical item she would take with her. It went down to her knees and in addition to being stylish had all sorts of spells sewn on the inside with silver thread. While it was by no means invincible it was designed to dissipate kinetic energy in addition to being extremely strong and durable. While a punch from a vampire would normally cave her chest in like an old beer can with the coat she might be able to get away with just some ugly bruising. The enchanted coat had saved her life more than once.

When it was time to go they exchanged a look and Bella knew that for now they had a truce even though their problems weren't resolved yet. While she was only seventeen years old Bella had been involved in an alarming number of fights for her life since everything had changed four years prior. Only Victoria and her own ability to keep her head in a crisis had saved her so far. They had fought mercenaries hired to come after them and even the Volturi guard once not to mention the occasional supernatural predator who thought they would be easy pickings. When going into possible danger both knew there was no room for ego and grudges.

Victoria led them out of the house and got into the driver seat while Bella followed and got in opposite. There was a tense silence while Victoria drove out of Forks and into the wild areas surrounding the quiet town. Night had already fallen and Bella strained her eyes and magical senses to try and locate anything that might be lurking outside in the woods, waiting for them. Victoria drove at a sedate pace for a vampire. While she had the ability to drive at any speed safely the fact was not even vampire senses could offset the reality of physics. Faster reflexes won't change forward momentum on a dime if something ugly jumped out of the woods in front of them. It had happened before.

They came to a turn that left the road and went up a dirt driveway. Victoria took it slowly and both of them strained their senses just in case there was any kind of ambush or unpleasant surprise waiting for them. They found nothing and eventually came up to a clearing with a large house when they emerged through the woods.

The house was very modern, large and covered in panes of glass. Bella thought it was quite beautiful if a little too modern for her tastes. She had always had a taste for the type of architecture where she grew up, older style European architecture primarily from the Victorian era. Never the less it was still an impressive and gorgeous home. Not surprising since anything that lived more than a few centuries tended to accumulate massive amounts of wealth with little effort.

Victoria brought the car to a halt a distance from the house and killed the engine. The lights were on inside. Bella unfastened her seatbelt and went to open the door. Victoria's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Don't be hasty. Let me see what I can pick up," she said.

Victoria opened her window and she took several deep breaths while listening intently. Bella saw severe alarm appear on her face all of a sudden. The vampire breathed in and out for a solid minute in silence while Bella watched. With a grimace the vampire rolled up the window leaving the two of them in the silence of the car.

"I don't know what the hell you were thinking, but you were wrong," Victoria snapped turning to Bella. Her brown eyes bore into Bella pinning her in place. "They are not Fey. They are vampires."

Bella's eyes widened at that. "What? No… no way. I told you they all have yellow eyes not red. I only saw one but everyone I talked to confirmed that about them. They can't be vampires, they have to be something else" she insisted, but it was more a denial out of reflex than actually trying to insist she was right.

"I can smell them from here. Vampires live here their smell is literally all over the place. It's hard to tell but I think there are more than five. Going by what you told me there are probably seven," said Victoria. She shook her head, a disbelieving gesture, "What a fuck up. We didn't prepare for this."

Bella was getting scared. Even one vampire was insanely dangerous. The one time they'd had to fight two members of the Volturi guard Bella knew it had been in no small part due to luck that they had both escaped in one piece. Having to defend against _seven_ vampires? The fight would be over before it even started.

"We should just leave," said Bella quietly. The beautiful house suddenly looked about a million times more intimidating and foreboding.

"We can't," said Victoria with an unhappy turn on her lips "they already know we're here. Even if they don't stop us leaving they won't leave us alone. We're a potential security breach to them. We're going to have to talk to them sooner or later no matter what."

Bella's heart started beating faster, terrified of the idea of going into a house filled with vampires. Aside from Victoria her whole life vampires had meant danger and death. "Is going in there really a good idea? I mean what if they are in with the Vol-"

Victoria's hand snapped up and quicker than the eye could follow covered Bella's mouth before she could finish that sentence. "Let's assume they can hear us. We might be too far from the house but I don't want to take the chance."

Bella's eyes widened at that having failed to consider it. She nodded her understanding and Victoria removed her hand from her mouth. "So… what do we do?" asked Bella nervously.

Victoria turned to look Bella in the eyes. The teenager could see the vampire was unnerved even though she tried to hide it. That didn't do much to reassure her of the situation. Victoria held her gaze while she spoke.

"Our best bet is to go inside," she said clearly unhappy with that insight "just let me do the talking. And follow my lead" she said giving Bella a significant look. Bella got the message.

_Don't say anything because we don't have our story together. I have a plan so don't screw it up. I'm about to lie my ass off._

"It's not as bad as it seems," said Victoria "a vampire's word isn't literally unbreakable like the Fey but they still offered safe passage. The old customs and traditions of hospitality are the closest thing to an iron clad law for vampires. There is also no faster way to become a universal pariah amongst our kind than to be known as someone who goes back on their word. Unless they are completely uncivilized the fact they invited us as guests should offer us some degree of protection." Though she said that the redheaded vampire still looked like she would rather set herself on fire than walk into that house.

Bella nodded but said nothing as she felt strangely exposed at the thought of the vampires in the house being able to hear what she said.

"Come on let's get this over with," said Victoria before opening the door and stepping out. After a moment's hesitation Bella opened her door and followed suit.

00

Victoria knocked on the door while Bella stood slightly behind her and to the right. She fingered the wooden rod shaped wand holstered up her sleeve for reassurance. Though she was feeling near hysterical on the inside Bella forced her outside to look calm and relaxed. The mental discipline necessary for the shaping and expression of magic served her well in situations such as these. Through she was terrible at poker she had a pretty good poker face when it counted.

The door opened and Bella forced herself to keep her face carefully neutral. Standing on the other side of the door was a vampire of the likes which Bella had never seen before.

The vampires that Bella had seen had always exuded an aura of danger and restrained violence. They had all been to the last flinty eyed predators who looked at her with the clear desire to inflict violence or they had been cool, emotionless customers who went about the business of violence with efficiency and precision. Even Victoria gave Bella the impression that if the situation changed enough anyone might be fair game for her violence or might become her next meal.

The vampire that stood before them was nothing like that. She was taller than Bella but still shorter than Victoria with long caramel colored hair and an extremely appealing maternal sort of beauty. Her eyes were the same unusual non-vampire yellow color that Edward had. The female vampire greeted them with a radiant smile that was warmer and more inviting than any Bella had ever seen before. The only thing that Bella could think as the vampire looked the both of them over was what a kind and compassionate aura she seemed to give off. Bella was so enraptured by the unexpected sight that she almost jumped when the vampire spoke.

"Hello. Thank the both of you for coming. I hope it wasn't an inconvenience to ask you to come here on such short notice. If I had known I would have insisted my son allow you to come in your own time. However I assure you we are very glad that you were able to make it," she said. Her voice was warm and nurturing and Bella felt a pang of pain in her chest as it made her miss her own mother. This vampire was nothing like what she had expected and it was making her feel a little off balance.

"It's quite all right," said Victoria in a polite but strangely formal tone, "we thank you for your invitation and your offer of hospitality."

Esme's smile grew wider at that and it made it seem more genuine and made her more beautiful at the same time. "You are our guests and we will honor you while under our roof and until you are safely beyond our lands. Please, won't you come in?" she said stepping aside and holding the door open for them.

The whole exchange had been bizarre but Bella deduced the strangely formal words they had spoken to each other meant something in vampire society. While she knew a great deal about vampires the social niceties of their kind wasn't something she had any knowledge of.

As Victoria stepped inside she gave Bella a quick look. It was amazing how much they had learned to communicate with just a glance over the years.

_Keep your guard up._ Victoria was warning her not to get taken in by the vampire's warm and motherly appearance.

It made sense even though Bella's first instinct was bizarrely enough for her to trust the strange vampire. That was enough to make her cautious. Every vampire had a gift, talent, power, whatever you wanted to call it and they came in an incredibly wide variety. For all she knew giving off extreme mothering 'I'm nice trust me' vibes was the strange vampire's ability. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest one she had ever heard of.

Bella followed the two vampires inside and stepped into a large living room. Seated and standing in a rough semi-circle in front of them were six golden eyed visions of otherworldly beauty. The vampire who had opened the door went to stand by the physically oldest of the males who looked to be somewhere in his twenties. By the casual way she put a hand on his shoulder as she stood behind him Bella deduced that they were together.

"Welcome," began the same male vampire, his voice warm and friendly but still with what Bella would call an old fashioned formality, "and thank you for coming. May you and yours have safety, blood, and fulfillment in eternal life."

"We thank you for your generous hospitality. May you and yours also prosper. May safety, blood and fulfillment be plentiful for you all in the long years of your immortality," replied Victoria.

"I, as the head of this Coven, take on the responsibilities of a host to provide for your needs and not allow you to come to harm."

"And I, as the acknowledged leader of our congregation, take on the responsibilities of a guest, to respect our hosts and follow their requests within reason."

"So mote it be."

"So mote it be."

Bella wasn't the only one surprised and confused by the exchange. Several of the other vampires were looking between the male who spoke and Victoria questioningly. Not that there had ever been any question but Bella was very glad Victoria was taking the lead. If and when they got out of this Bella was going to have to learn about vampire etiquette. It seemed there was a great deal she didn't know about.

The female who had opened the door smiled happily at them. "It's been so long since I've seen the old ways used. Usually those who come see us are either family or friends who are so close they don't see the point in it. I've always been somewhat partial to them."

"It's a shame when good things become less used over time," said Victoria. She sounded cordial but Bella knew her enough to know she hadn't been put at ease by the friendly reception they had received so far.

"Well, I believe introductions are in order" said the man who had spoken. "I am Carlisle Cullen and this is my wife Esme,"

"On the end over there is Rosalie Hale," he said. Bella took a moment to examine her. She only had time to notice that A) she was possibly the most perfectly beautiful person she had ever seen and B) she looked extremely unhappy for some reason. Then Carlisle was moving on.

"… next to her is her husband Emmett Cullen," he said referring to an extremely tall and burly male who gave her a good natured smile when she looked at him. Bella instantly wanted to like him but wasn't about to suddenly trust a strange vampire based on a spur of the moment feeling.

"Then we have Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale who are also mates," he said. Jasper was a male with honey blonde hair who had a slightly pained look on his face. Alice was a very short petite girl with short dark hair. She was smiling her and seemed to be almost vibrating with contained energy. It was so un-vampire that Bella didn't know what to make of her.

"And finally we have Edward Cullen," said Carlisle. Bella had already met Edward. He was looking at her with what she could only describe as an interested look on his face. He was probably the most handsome of the males and it didn't escape her notice that he was the only single vampire in the strange Coven.

Victoria looked at each of them as they had been introduced. After they were done she waited a few moments before she spoke.

"My name is Andromeda; I stopped using my family name a long time ago. This here is Marie Harker. Obviously she knows about vampires and I don't want her to be killed. She'll have to be turned eventually to avoid breaking the law but I would prefer it if she was older."

Bella felt a surge of surprise. Marie was her middle name but Harker had been her mother's maiden name. She didn't even know Victoria knew what her mother's maiden name had been. Bella had no idea why she had given that as her name. More puzzling still was the name Andromeda. It wasn't a name she'd ever heard associated with the redhead before and at first Bella assumed it was a complete fabrication.

The rest of what she had said was sneaky and after thinking about it Bella thought she caught on to what Victoria was doing. She had not technically lied but still made it sound like she was just waiting to turn Bella. In reality she had never said anything of the sort. Bella only saw it because she knew that if Victoria turned her she will have 'died' enough that it would kill the vampire so there was no way Victoria would do that. It was also a stretch but it certainly wouldn't be an outright lie if Bella called herself Marie Harker. After all in many places in Europe it was common to include the mother's maiden name in one's full formal name. Bella herself was Isabella Marie Black Harker in many places around the world.

The mention of her being turned caused a definite negative reaction among some members in the room. Rosalie crossed her arms under her chest and her face took on a look of extreme distaste. Esme gave Bella a soft sympathetic look, like she wasn't being given a choice. Edward had the most extreme reaction of all. His yellow eyes darkened to almost black and his hands crushed the armrests of the chair he was seated in. Bella took a half step back fingering the wand in her coat sleeve.

"She shouldn't be turned into an abomination!" Edward said. Bella blinked her surprise at realizing he was outraged on her behalf. It was completely misplaced concern of course but somehow Bella was still grateful for it.

"Edward!" gasped Esme, sounding appalled at his outburst. Victoria regarded him evenly seemingly completely unfazed.

"The law is the law. It's foolish and dangerous to break it. The Volturi are not known for their forgiveness and understanding" she replied evenly.

"Quite so" said Carlisle cutting Edward off before he had another outburst. He looked at Carlisle and turned his head away and to Bella it seemed like he was pouting. It was kind of ridiculous and cute, a pouting vampire.

"We must all observe the law or face its consequences. Tell me how did you and young Marie come to be together?" Carlisle asked.

"I met her years ago when she was just a child. Of course as you know it is illegal to turn children into vampires. She already knew about vampires at the time. I could not kill her so we've been together ever since. It has been difficult but it has also had some unforeseen rewards."

That last line surprised Bella a great deal. She knew the Victoria was telling a great heap of lies by twisting the truth until it was unrecognizable and doing it as well as any Fey in her opinion. That also meant that she did in fact think at least a few good things had happened since her capture. Bella couldn't help but burn with curiosity to know what those things were.

Unknown to Bella two members of the Cullen family were looking at the two of them with increasing unease and suspicion.

00

"_I think she's lying" _Thought Jasper loudly knowing Edward would be able to hear him.

His ability to feel emotions had many uses one of which was that, on occasion, he could tell when someone was lying by the fluctuations of their emotions. Unless you had a century or two of emotional control a person's feelings were often enough for Jasper to parse truth from fiction.

"Andromeda" was steady as a rock, her emotions tightly controlled and only shifting in small amounts. He could tell she was dramatically more tense than she outwardly appeared to be but she was entirely too focused on what she was doing to let herself be distracted by too many emotions. As far as he could tell she was telling the truth.

What led Jasper to think something was wrong were the emotions rolling off "Marie". While she was doing an admirable job keeping a calm exterior her emotions were broadcasting so loudly it was uncomfortable. He could almost taste her unease and fear at being there with them which to be honest Jasper couldn't exactly blame her for it. Her emotions also spiked while the redheaded vampire spoke. When she had said their names Marie's emotions were very clearly surprise and confusion. She had not been expecting that they would be introduced in such a way.

Then Edward had his outburst which first led to a spike of fear from the young human. Jasper didn't miss how she seemed to finger something up her jacket sleeve. Then her emotions turned to a reluctant gratitude when she realized Edward had been protesting on her behalf in his own unfortunate way.

When Andromeda began to explain how they had come to be together Jasper could feel realization and then amusement coming from the young human. If she thought what was being said was funny then it stood to reason it was because the story was a fabrication.

Jasper glanced at Edward who he could feel was becoming increasingly agitated and upset. The eldest Hale knew Edward was reading his thoughts and thus knew of his suspicion that they were being told a tall tale. His brother had been getting increasingly upset since their guests had arrived. It didn't take Jasper long to figure out that Edward couldn't read the redhead any more than he could 'Marie'.

Either that meant that two people just happened to be immune to Edward's power or the girl's abilities were more extensive than they had originally suspected. To be able to protect her own mind and the mind of others was an impressive gift.

The unexpected feelings of possessiveness rolling off Edward towards the girl Marie were a great surprise to Jasper and frankly unsettling. Her brother felt he had some sort of claim to the girl but why he thought so Jasper had no clue. It was frankly inappropriate and Jasper felt it was only a matter of time before Edward did something unfortunate.

_Edward, they are guests. You may not know but that is something sacred amongst our kind and that girl is in no way yours. Calm yourself._ _You will shame us all if you do anything rash._

Jasper felt a flare of annoyance and stubbornness from Edward after hearing his thoughts. The eldest Hale had to suppress a sigh. Carlisle, Esme and himself were the only ones who had been forced to interact with vampire society at large and thus learned of their rules and culture. With a species as naturally inclined to violence as their own strict codes of behavior were necessary to keep the peace when different predators were forced to interact. If you lived it you easily saw the value in it. However none of the others had any real experience with vampires outside their own Coven. They might not have the proper context to understand the gravity of the situation.

He felt the temptation to calm the emotions in the room but it would both be a bad idea to reveal what he could do and poor form to use his power on guests without their permission, even if it was to help. Instead Jasper just braced himself against all the emotions in the room and settled in to get as much information as he could for his family.

00

"So you've been carting around a human with you for years? Wow that's kind of cool. Does that mean you're a vegetarian too then? Kind of hard to tell with those human looking brown eyes" said the muscular vampire Emmett sounding friendly and enthusiastic. Bella was puzzled by the term 'vegetarian vampire'.

Apparently she wasn't the only one. Victoria's brow furrowed as she looked at the tall vampire. "I'm not sure what you mean" she said.

"You know, vegetarian is what _we_ call it, kind of our own little joke. I mean we're on a furry diet."

"Excuse me?"

"You know. We're animal drinkers."

Animal drinkers. The concept blew Bella's mind. Without thinking Bella blurted out "Wait, you guys survive by feeling off animals?" she asked sounding incredulous.

Everyone's eyes snapped to her and suddenly Bella wished she'd kept her mouth shut. Victoria didn't turn to look at her but by the sudden tightening in her shoulders Bella knew she was warning her to shut up and keep quiet. Bella thought that sounded like a mighty fine idea.

It was Carlisle who answered her. "Yes we do. We find it makes it possible for us to remain amongst humans for long periods of time and to live in such a large group with each other as it helps control some of our instincts. We also feel it is our moral imperative not to take human lives if at all possible. Our lifestyle is not without its challenges but ultimately we feel it is the right thing to do" he said, his voice carefully without judgment.

"And that," asked Victoria cautiously "is why your eyes are yellow?"

"Indeed. It is a side effect of our diet." There was a slight pause. "I take it that you follow the more… traditional vampire diet then?" asked Carlisle carefully.

"That's right. I've never even heard of vampires feeding on anything but humans to be honest," said Victoria. Bella could tell she was genuinely surprised by the news.

Bella could almost see the ripple of discomfort go through the room at Victoria's admission that she fed on humans. Rosalie didn't bother to hide the distaste from her face and Alice's eyes flickered to her in concern. Edward looked to be silently fuming. Bella found herself inching ever so slightly towards Victoria. Though she didn't like that Victoria preyed on humans that didn't mean she was going to feel comfortable with other vampires directing their hostility towards her because of that.

"If I may ask, if you are a human drinker how have you managed to remain with Marie safely for so long?" asked Esme in a kind tone and Bella was relieved that at least she didn't seem to be acting any different towards them by the revelation.

Victoria shrugged casually, the picture of unconcerned nonchalance. "I feed when I get hungry and my control is very good. I don't want to accidentally harm her so that helps a great deal. It hasn't been as much of an issue as I had originally thought it would."

"You must have exceptional control then" said Carlisle with just a touch of respect in his voice. "A human drinker to be around a human for so long without killing them… it is quite an impressive feat."

"Thank you for your kind words. I must admit to feeling some admiration for you as well. Switching to an animal diet…" Victoria couldn't _quite_ keep the look of distaste off her face, "it must have been quite a challenge."

"Many do find the change difficult but no one determined to do so has failed yet."

"So I have to ask, how come your eyes are brown instead of red?" asked the small vampire named Alice, tilting her head with a curious expression.

Victoria hesitated before answering. "I'd like to keep what I can do to myself. I'm sure you understand my reasoning."

"Why? You got something to hide?" said Edward belligerently.

"Edward," said Carlisle firmly before anyone could respond. Edward gave his adoptive 'father' a hurt look at the reprimand. Bella thought that in a lot of ways Edward seemed like an actual teenager.

After seeming to consider something for a few seconds Carlisle turned to Victoria. "Andromeda, would you be willing to engage in an exchange of trust?"

For the first time that evening Victoria looked genuinely taken aback. "With your whole Coven?" she asked.

Carlisle nodded. Bella had no idea what was going on now.

Victoria worried her lower lip in thought for a few moments before finally consenting. "I am willing."

Carlisle nodded before he began. "Carlisle Cullen, he who can heal any wound."

"Esme Cullen, she who can see the hearts and souls of others."

"Jasper Hale, he who can feel and influence emotions" he said somberly.

It was pretty clear to Bella that while those three knew exactly what to do the others had never seen or done this before if their bewildered looks were anything to go by. However they were quick enough to pick it up.

"Alice Cullen, she who can see some of the future, well mostly but not all the time. It's been a bit on the fritz lately but usually it's very reliable."

"Emmett Cullen, he who is a strong as the Hulk. Other vampires think they are strong but they can't bench press tractor trailers the way I can. We haven't been able to find a way to test out just how strong I really am" he said very proudly with a smile on his face.

"Rosalie Hale," she said and unlike the other vampires she sounded rather bitter. "I can manipulate people's lust and punish them with it. I'm not about to talk like an idiot and refer to myself in the third person."

Everyone turned to look at the last person, Edward. He looked like he really didn't want to have to say what his power was. Eventually under the combined stares of his family he caved and ground out his response.

"Edward Cullen. Mind reader."

Alarm went through both Victoria and Bella before Jasper felt the need to reassure them.

"Don't worry. For some reason his power isn't working on the two of you. I'd guess you'd know something about why that is," he said to them.

Bella almost sagged with relief at hearing that. But why couldn't Edward read their minds? Perhaps it was a side effect of all the precautions she'd taken so they couldn't be tracked using magic. Since vampire abilities were magical maybe it offered some kind of protection. Bella couldn't be sure but it was the best explanation she could come up with at the moment.

"Andromeda. She who always knows how to stay alive and safe."

For a second Bella panicked wondering if she was expected to say something about herself. She looked to Victoria who almost imperceptibly shook her head. Good, because she had no idea what she would have said and revealing she was a wizard seemed like a terrible idea.

"Ironic, given how the mythical Andromeda was the original damsel in distress," said Jasper a small smile curling on his lips.

To Bella's surprise Victoria returned the smile. "Hey now, Andromeda is a nice strong name fit for a queen. After all the name means 'ruler of men'. I was made to be the boss" she joked.

"That still doesn't explain about your brown eyes," said Rosalie unamused.

"Come now, I honestly and in good faith shared the nature of my power. How I can camouflage my eyes has nothing to do with that. Let's just say I came into possession of an especially enchanted trinket and leave it at that."

"You shouldn't be around Marie," said Edward suddenly. "You're a filthy murderer and it's not safe. You are so used to killing humans who knows when you'll finally snap and kill her?"

"Edward!" said Esme scandalized. However this time Edward would not be stopped.

"You obviously don't think human life is sacred or you would have found a better way by now. If you really care about Marie you should think about what is best for her."

Victoria finally looked at Edward, _really_ looked. The redhead had always had a gaze that was able to pierce straight through you, a look that was able to cut through all your defenses and make it's way deep down into your core. She let the weight of it fall on Edward, her eyes somehow burning and colder than ice at the same time. Her weight shifted subtly and though she looked deceptively relaxed she was ready to spring at a moment's notice. Her hands curled halfway into loose fists. Bella had seen her like this before. When Victoria was challenged, when she was ready to fight, _this_ is what she looked like.

"And what, _exactly_, is it that you imagine is best for her?" said Victoria in a low dangerous voice.

Edward seemed to falter at the sudden unexpected change in the other vampire. However to his credit he quickly gathered himself and resumed his tirade.

"Getting away from you obviously. Since she knows about vampires and we can't just let her go because of the _law _but she would be better off with us instead of you. At least we've proven we can resist the temptations of human blood. You are unfit to take care of her."

"Oh. So you imagine you can just take her from me?" said Victoria in a chilly voice that _sounded_ calm. Bella however knew better. Victoria was enraged. Something about what Edward was saying was really pushing her buttons. The only time Bella had ever heard Victoria sound like that was before things exploded into blood and violence. Bella subtly moved away and made sure her bracelets and wand were ready and in easy reach.

"You're dangerous. Marie would be safest that way. She would be much better off with us instead."

A low growl emanated from deep in Victoria's chest, an ominous rumbling sound that seemed to vibrate off the walls and in Bella's skull and in her very bones. The tension in the room skyrocketed, all the vampires suddenly focusing on Victoria with guarded and worried expressions on their faces. All except Edward who stood up and stood defiant in front of Victoria.

The brown of Victoria's eyes began to cloud over until they until they were a pitch solid black. Her emotions and instincts were going on overdrive. It frightened Bella. She had hardly ever seen Victoria get into that state and they were still in a precarious position.

"There is just one problem with your theory, mind reader" Victoria hissed in a voice that was almost unrecognizable as hers.

Edward's steady gaze faltered and Bella could tell he was intimidated but he refused to back down. "I don't see any problems with it."

"She would never go with you," said Victoria continuing on as if he had never spoken "And I would never allow her to."

Bella gasped at that, her heart beating even faster in her chest if that was possible. She had never heard Victoria speak like that before.

"It's not like you can stop her if she wants to go," he said flippantly.

Victoria's lips curled up showing her fully dropped fangs. She took a half a step towards Edward and he unconsciously took half a step back.

"Son," said Carlisle worriedly, "you really should-"

Both the vampires completely ignored him. Victoria interrupted him as if he hadn't even begun speaking.

"Yes I can. Because you are willfully ignoring a painfully obvious fact."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" he said with a sneer.

"She _belongs_ to **me**. _BELLA. IS. __**MINE**__!" _

With that, faster than the eye could follow, Victoria launched herself at Edward.

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	6. Chapter 5

**AN1: Wow another chapter coming in at almost 7k words. I seriously didn't expect to have two chapters back to back that were this long. It's been a week since my last update so this for me is a very quick follow up. **

**AN2: Thank you everyone for the amazing response to the last chapter! As of right now I've gotten 35 reviews for it and it more than doubled the previous numbers of reviews. Thank you everyone for your enthusiasm and support. Hope this chapter is a suitable follow up for you all **

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_With that, faster than the eye could follow, Victoria launched herself at Edward._

Edward was caught completely off guard by the sudden attack. Faster than a blink Victoria crossed the space between them buried her fist in Edward's face. He flew backwards in what Bella could only think of as kung fu theater fashion, flipping over his chair and crashing into the wall at the far side of the room.

He must have hit a power switch when he hit the wall because suddenly most of the lights went out. There was a furious roar from Edward as he was almost instantly back on his feet. Victoria answered back with a challenging roar of her own, her eyes pitch black and her fangs glinting in the dim moonlight coming through the windows. It was a completely inhuman sight and it hit Bella how completely unlike her these powerful creatures really were.

With fangs bared and eyes black Edward launched himself across the room at Victoria. They collided and it took considerable willpower from Bella not to turn and watch the fight. She had already been pouring her magic into the bracelet on her left wrist, ready to snap up a shield of defensive magic with a thought. Instead of watching Victoria she turned to face the rest of the Cullens sure that it was only surprise that was keeping them from entering the fight and piling on to Victoria.

What Bella actually saw from the Cullens was unexpected. Esme and Carlisle had placed themselves between Rosalie and Emmett and the fight speaking to them too low and too fast for her to make out. Jasper had put his hand on his wife's shoulder who stood with a shocked and slightly horrified expression as she watched the fight.

She didn't know why but it seemed what she thought were the eldest vampires were preventing anyone from interfering with the fight. Bella couldn't help but sag slightly in relief that it didn't look like they were about to get mobbed by seven angry vampires. Still Bella didn't let go of the magic she had gathered and held it tightly coiled at the ready.

The sound of something hard hitting flesh and a grunt of pain dragged her eyes back to the fight taking place just a dozen feet from her. Edward swung at Victoria, his fists blurring impossibly fast, but Victoria seemed to constantly be ahead of him dodging his attacks by fractions of an inch. This went on for a few impossibly long moments before Victoria saw an opening and struck. Victoria drove her fist into his sternum and there was a loud cracking noise that told Bella that Victoria had just broken part of Edward's diamond-hard vampire skeleton. Edward pushed himself away with a grunt, trying to get some space but Victoria stayed right next to him without giving him a second's respite.

As Bella watched the incredible high speed fight part of her brain was analyzing what was happening even without any conscious effort on her part. There was probably no way Edward could hope to beat Victoria. The vampire had once confided in her that she had once used her power primarily to run away from danger. However since being with Bella she had been forced to adapt and push the limits of how she could use her power since avoiding fights altogether seemed impossible when she had Bella to protect. Now Victoria could use it in battle and to their mutual surprise it had become almost impossible for anyone to beat her in a fight. Victoria just _knew_ in real time how and where the danger was coming second by second and she knew perfectly how to avoid it. It was part of the reason they had stayed alive as long as they had. Unless someone had some ace up their sleeve fighting one on one against Victoria was worse than fighting a ghost. It was _suicide_.

Maybe if Edward had been able to read her mind it would have leveled the playing field somewhat. However that was gone and thus he literally stood no chance.

Bella watched as Edward tried to tackle Victoria, only to have her step neatly into him and throw him over her shoulder. She held on to his arm and slammed him hard on the ground, breaking through the expensive wood flooring. There was a quick violent motion Bella couldn't follow and then there was a loud snap followed by an enraged howl of pain. Bella saw with some dismay that Edward's arm had been badly broken at the elbow.

"_**MINE**__!_" she howled at him. Bella couldn't help but feel both pleased and frightened at the raw possessiveness in her tone.

However the fight still hadn't gone out of Edward yet in spite of everything. He wrenched his arm loose from her grip and charged her again aiming to tackle her to the ground. Victoria stepped back as he lunged and grabbed his arm and the front of his shirt redirecting his momentum into a spin. She twirled in a full circle and with visible effort hurled Edward straight out one of the large windows, shattering it and sending the vampire flying out into the night.

Victoria wasted no time in going out the window after him. In the space of a breath all other Cullens moved at vampire speed and followed the two outside. Bella cursed and hurried after them much slower as she was only able to follow at her own human speed.

Careful not to cut herself on pieces of jagged glass Bella stepped through the broken window and came upon an unexpected sight. Edward was laying on the ground on his back and Emmett was crouching behind him, his hands on Edward's shoulders in what looked like a brotherly gesture but was also clearly stopping him from getting back up. Esme and Carlisle were standing between them and Victoria with their hands held up in a placating gesture. The remaining three vampires were standing off to the sides and looked ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

Looking on Bella felt herself start to feel increasingly calm and peaceful and content. It was a very nice feeling until she realized how inappropriate it suddenly was for the situation. Bella's quick mind searched for an answer and she felt the pricklings of magic affecting her emotions. With a start she realized who must be responsible and her gaze snapped to the vampire Jasper. His brow was furrowed in concentration and Bella guessed he was straining his powers to calm everyone down.

With a start she realized Carlisle had started speaking. She started paying attention and her jaw almost dropped open at what she heard.

"…apologize for his behavior, he doesn't understand what he was doing," Carlisle was saying. "No one will try to take what is yours, I give you my word as the leader of this Coven. The challenge was uncalled for, it was born out of ignorance and will not be repeated I assure you" he said placatingly.

Victoria stood still with her eyes black and her posture tense but at least she had stopped to listen. She gnashed her teeth in frustrated aggression and looked like she desperately needed an outlet but Bella could see she was slowly calming down. Victoria started speaking to Carlisle and to her annoyance she spoke too fast and low for her to hear. Carlisle replied in kind and Bella found herself in the awkward situation of being the only one who couldn't hear or understand what was being said.

After a short conversation Emmett took his hands off Edward and slowly stood up, not touching him but watching him warily, standing close enough to grab him again in case he did something. Edward stood up just a little bit awkwardly with one of his arms visibly broken. Carlisle and Esme both turned and spoke a few short rapid words to him. Edward said nothing and instead just glared balefully at Victoria. Victoria glared right back with her lips threatening to curl into a snarl. Despite whatever Carlisle had said to her and Jasper's peaceful influence she still looked to be one provocation away from attacking him again.

Carlisle said something sharply to him and his gaze finally turned to his father. Looking around to everyone and fixing Victoria one last angry scowl Edward turned and fled into the woods. Everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief once he was gone.

"Well," said Carlisle sounding just a tad too cheerful for the atmosphere, "why don't get back inside and we can resume our conversation?"

Without a word the Cullen vampires began to file back into the house through the broken window jumping inside without a problem. Instead of going inside right away Esme walked straight towards Bella instead. Suddenly this made Bella nervous and Victoria turned to stare at them with the eyes of a hawk. She seemed to have calmed down to some extent but was still wound tighter than piano wire.

Esme leaned in slightly into Bella as she walked past her. "Go to her sweetie," Esme whispered to her, "make sure to touch her. It will help" With a tender reassuring smile Esme left and walked back into the house.

Just like that Bella was alone with Victoria in the Cullen's back yard. The redhead stood in the same spot and Bella could see she was struggling to put her instinctual, vampire nature back in a cage. Bella hesitantly walked up to her while Victoria eyed her up and down greedily with black eyes, and while her gaze was possessive and not sexual it still made Bella's insides clench.

"_Stupid hormones_"she grumbled in her own mind.

Hesitantly Bella reached out and took Victoria's hand in both of hers. Her hand was cool and despite the situation it gave Bella a little thrill to be holding it. She rubbed her thumbs over the back of Victoria's hand in what she hoped was a reassuring fashion. "Are you ok?" Bella asked, her voice filled with concern.

Victoria didn't answer instead looking down at their joined hands with a laser like intensity. Slowly her eyes traveled up and up until they settled on Bella's face. Something came across Victoria's face then, something decidedly dark and hungry and utterly primal. Bella's eyes widened and her heart sped up at seeing that look.

"Tori what…"

Her question was cut off as Victoria reached up with her free hand and grabbed Bella behind the neck gripping so hard Bella couldn't contain the pained squeal that escaped her. Bella let go of the hand she was holding and brought her hands to the one around her neck. The human teen felt like a fish on a hook as she couldn't help but arch her back and throw back her head to try and lessen the pressure. Dimly she realized she was very obviously exposing her throat and that might not be helping Tori regain control.

"Ease up Tori, ease up," Bella said gently while trying to keep her breathing even. While she knew Victoria couldn't really hurt her she felt the awesome power in those fingers and felt like her neck could be snapped with a flick of the wrist. Perversely, maybe because she knew she couldn't actually be hurt, that power that Victoria had over her was turning her on and she could feel the moisture start to quickly pool between her legs. She had to make a conscious effort not to let herself moan like a whore.

She was pretty sure Esme's plan of 'touching' Victoria to help her out was backfiring horribly.

The witch had long been in denial but in that moment it became clear. Bella was hopelessly, painfully in lust with Victoria.

Fuck her life.

Then Victoria began to lower her head towards Bella and for a heart stopping moment she thought she was about to be kissed. Instead Victoria turned Bella's head to the side slightly and began to rub her cheek against Bella's while the vampire made a sound halfway between a purr and a growl. Bella was momentarily confused and turned on by Victoria rubbing her cheek all along Bella's face and neck. It took a few moments before it finally hit Bella's hormone laden brain what was going on.

_She's scent marking me! _

The idea was oddly pleasing to the young witch and she relaxed and let Victoria do whatever she wanted. The coolness of her cheek was like a soothing balm against Bella's increasingly heated skin. After a few moments she turned Bella's head in the other direction, repeating the same with the other side of her face and neck. All the while she kept up the growling/purring sounds that made Bella think of an overgrown jungle cat, the vibrations rising through Tori's chest and throat and transferring wherever her skin was touching Bella's. Other than the occasional rare bite this was the most intimate the two of them had ever been together and Bella didn't know whether her heart was going to burst out of her chest or stop beating altogether.

Unexpectedly Victoria suddenly froze, froze in that unnatural stillness that was only possible for vampires. Bella was about to voice a question before the redhead released her suddenly and Bella had to struggle to regain her balance and not fall on her behind. When she was steady on her feet again Bella saw that Victoria had removed her enchanted thumb ring and her eyes were no longer black but a dark red.

"I hate that thing," she muttered looking off into the darkness and not looking particularly happy. She put the ring in her pocket and walked past Bella refusing to meet her eyes. Bella watched Victoria's back as she walked back towards the window she had broken.

Bella realized she was breathing too hard and forced herself to slow down. Her sex throbbed demanding attention but more than anything she just felt confused. Why did it feel like Victoria was suddenly giving her the brush off after all that? What had just happened in there? What was with the scent marking? ...What was she really to Victoria?

Feeling vaguely hurt at what felt like Victoria's abrupt dismissal of her Bella realized her many questions would have to wait. They hadn't finished with the Cullens yet despite all the excitement thus far. If she was honest if they could walk away with only one supernatural fistfight to complicate things they could count themselves lucky. These things never turned out the way you expected them to.

Damn supernatural politics. Always getting in the way of her non-existent sex life.

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Once they were back inside Carlisle began to speak.

"I must apologize again," said Carlisle, looking so somber Bella was inclined to believe he actually meant what he was saying. "I realize now I have been remiss in not educating my entire Coven properly in how to deal with vampires in the world at large. Perhaps I've allowed us to become too isolated, too content to live our own lives while forgetting about the larger vampire community around us. Frankly teaching proper court rules and protocols reminds me too much of the Volturi and I naively believed those skills were not be necessary for some of my 'children' to learn"

Bella was somewhat relieved at hearing the implication that Carlisle didn't like the Volturi much. Still what he was talking about seemed like a major oversight.

"You see one of the benefits of a diet of animal blood is that it numbs some of our instincts and makes others easier to deal with. One drawback however is this can also lead to us not being fully in tune with how our actions might be taken by someone whose instincts are more active and at the foreground. I don't think he really understood how what he was saying and doing would be taken. I believe he was speaking perhaps out of… misguided concern. It was not meant as a challenge to take the human you have claimed away from you."

Claimed? Victoria had _claimed_ her? What did that even _mean_? Maybe it had something to do with how she had been scent marked. Even she with her completely ordinary human nose could catch the faintest trace of Victoria's unique scent on her, a smell that was a combination of a sweet flower and something spicy. The knowing look from Rosalie and the teasing grin she had gotten from Emmett when she came back in along with his waggling 'sexy eyebrows' let her know everyone was well aware of how she smelled now. Bella was sure she had blushed bright scarlet and that had gotten her the tiniest upward tug of lips from Rosalie.

Victoria for her part looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable with the conversation. "As long as you make certain he understands what is and isn't acceptable we can consider the matter closed. Just make sure he understands or I won't hesitate to remove a few of his limbs next time."

"Of course," agreed Carlisle quickly "it was unwise to give provocation like that."

"Wait, so what exactly happened?" asked Alice, looking cutely confused. She really did look too innocent and adorable to be a vampire.

Victoria didn't look inclined to speak so it was Esme who answered her. "Vampires are naturally possessive and territorial. Dragons hoarding their gold have nothing on us," she joked with a smile, "I know you've experienced some of this instinct on your own when it comes to Jasper. Every vampire is like that with their mates. However in the case of most vampires who are not animal drinkers territorial and possessive instincts come into play with more than just heir mates. It can happen with any territory they have claimed, with food and far more rarely with any human a vampire has claimed as 'theirs'. Usually this is what happens when a vampire selects a human they wish to turn. Edward made it sound like he was going to take Andromeda's human away from her and her instincts reacted to that threat. Most vampires would know that pushing the issue on something like that is the surest way to start a fight and Andromeda's instincts took over." Esme shook her head slightly "Carlisle is right we have been remiss in not teaching these things to the four of you. These are basic fundamental facts about dealing with vampires and it never occurred to me that you would be so ill equipped to deal with it. I feel I have to apologize for that," said Esme, giving her 'children' a soft regretful smile.

"Whatever, Eddy boy was being an idiot," said Emmett, snorting and rolling his eyes "A blind man could have seen that Andy here was going to blow her lid when he started running his mouth and he just wouldn't stop. Far as I'm concerned he dug his own grave and eagerly jumped in head first. By the way, _have the human come live with us_? That's the first _I_ ever heard of it. No offence Bella Bear but even for us hippie vegetarian vampires having a human around all the time would be a bit of a challenge," he told her with a friendly grin.

Bella smiled back. She couldn't help herself. Emmett's good cheer was infectious. Even as she told herself to be cautious she couldn't help but like the large and boisterous vampire.

"It's ok, I think being around vampires who insisted on wearing hemp and ran around in Birkenstocks would be too much for me anyway," she said shyly, venturing to joke with the big male.

Alice looked horrified by her suggestion and Emmett broke out in real laughter. All the Cullens looked at least a little amused, except for Rosalie who just lost a bit of the sour look on her face but Bella counted that as a win. It effectively broke the tense atmosphere that had settled over the group and that made Bella breathe a big sigh of relief.

Most gratifying to her was that Tori lost a bit of the serious mien she'd had since they had arrived at the Cullen's. She swore she even saw a hint of a smile.

"I can't believe you would say something like that…" said Alice, still looking vaguely shell shocked at the very idea of such a fashion disaster.

Emmett turned to his wife and stage whispered so everyone could hear. "Honey I know what to get everyone for Christmas this year. We'll order a whole bunch of hemp clothes and Birkenstocks for everybody online and replace all their wardrobes."

"Don't you dare! You might be bigger than me but I swear I'll find some way to hurt you. And seriously Emmett, Bella Bear? Where did that come from? Isn't her name Marie? Giving another woman pet names instead of your wife? You're losing friends mighty fast around here Emmett Cullen!"

"Hey now we have to keep up our image as hippie vegetarian vampires and there's no better way to do it than decking ourselves out in pretentious pot-based clothing. As to Bella Bear, well Andy over here called her Bella in a moment of passion and it's easier to come up with a cool nickname for Bella than for Marie."

Bella almost choked at Emmett's colorful description of how her name had been called out… and then she realized Victoria had lost herself and called her Bella instead of Marie. Damn. She really hoped that wouldn't cause any problems.

She caught Jasper looking at her and she had the sudden insight that her emotions had been giving him more information than she wanted him to have. She wanted to kick herself in the ass for not having realized that as soon as he'd revealed that he could sense emotions.

"So what is your name? Marie or Bella?" Jasper asked her.

Before she could reply Victoria answered for her. "If you remember her alias at school is Bella Swan. We've used the name Bella in her aliases so often I've started to think of her as that instead of Marie. She really seems to like the name" said Victoria with a small smile that looked genuine. It was a nice save. Bella had to admit Victoria was a smooth operator.

Apparently they were back to lying with the truth. Somehow even though it was the smart thing to do Bella felt a bit bad misleading these vampires who so far had been nothing but nice to them. Well, except possibly for Edward but even though he had provoked Tori she couldn't be too mad at him. It seemed that in his own way he was trying to look out for her, a total stranger. That had been nice of him. It's not like he knew Tori literally couldn't harm her no matter how badly she might want to.

Jasper gave the two of them a searching look and Bella felt helpless since she was starting to realize her emotions were undermining Victoria's efforts to keep their real identities as murky as possible. It wouldn't do for everyone and their uncle to know a redheaded vampire named Victoria and a human named Isabella Black had travelled through a place together. The danger of their names and descriptions somehow getting back to the Volturi was simply too great and then they'd be back on the run for their lives again. Sadly Bella knew that no matter how this meeting turned out Victoria would probably be thinking about leaving Forks soon anyway.

Honestly using their real first names as aliases for the school had been risky but Bella had insisted because she felt it would make it feel more like she was living a normal life. Now she was starting to regret that decision. The Cullens already knew enough to sink them three times over if they told anyone what they knew about them.

While Emmett bickered with Alice about stealing her wardrobe and replacing it with something more 'Earth friendly' Jasper walked over to Carlisle and started whispering in his ear. A moment later Esme joined in and the three of them had an impromptu huddle. Bella got the impression they were speaking so low only the three of them close together could hear what they were saying if Victoria's suddenly carefully neutral mask was anything to go by. The witch has a sinking feeling that her emotions had given everything away and she wondered what they would do if that was indeed the case.

It didn't take long before the impromptu huddle broke up. Carlisle sat up and his demeanor suddenly seemed much more serious. Alice and Emmett picked up on it and they quickly settled down. Bella found her palms had started to sweat. She didn't know what Jasper had said but obviously it was something Carlisle and by extension the Coven were taking seriously. Carlisle regarded them in silence for a few long nervous moments before he spoke up.

"I wonder if you would be willing to let Esme read you."

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"_So what's the plan father?" _

"_The usual. Put alarm triggers on major roads and high traffic areas in large population centers. There are few magical practitioners in Washington and none as strong as the girl." _

"_That's a lot of work, a lot of ground to cover. A large investment in magic." _

"_Save it. It'll be worth it once we catch up to the girl. Those fancy Volturi bastards are offering stupid amounts of green if we can find the girl and take her out. I don't know why they got such a hard on for one inexperienced witch but frankly as long as we get paid I don't give a damn." _

"_How much money are we talking about?" _

"_Let's just say the payout started at seven figures and only went up from there over the years." _

"_And for a job that big they came to _us_?" _

"_They came to _me._ But I see your point. I'm pretty sure we're just one out of several groups of mercs out looking for the girl. Whoever gets her first gets the whole enchilada." _

"_And we have a lead no one else has." _

"_Exactly. Now let's find this pain in the ass kid and then we can let the boys have their fun." _

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"Read us?" said Victoria, and from her tone you would have thought she'd just been asked to eat something particularly foul.

Carlisle nodded once. "With her power. As we have said Esme has the ability to look into the hearts and souls of people. It is an ability that lets her see the true nature of people and something of their intentions. In no way does it read your mind or violate your privacy beyond that."

Victoria was stone faced. "Why would we agree to that?"

Carlisle took a deep breath, an unnecessary gesture for a vampire. "Miss Andromeda, I realize there are many good reasons why the two of you might want to keep secrets. I am not the type of person to condemn you outright if you felt the need to be somewhat… creative with some facts. It is in some ways perfectly understandable. However if you wish to stay in our territory I must know for sure that you bear us no ill will and are not here to do something unfortunate. We've had bad experiences with vampires in the past and it is simply not a risk I am willing to take. If your intentions truly are benign Esme will be able to tell us to our satisfaction and we can all be friendly while we allow you to stay in Forks. I do not believe this is an unreasonable request."

Bella could see the wheels turning in Victoria's head, running down her own version of a risk/benefit analysis. If she had been a cat her fur would have been standing on end, she didn't like the ultimatum. Letting a strange vampire use their powers on you was a risky proposition, it's not like they really _knew_ if they were telling the truth about how Esme's power worked.

Thankfully Victoria had her own power and Bella knew she would be able to sense if Esme using her power to read them would be dangerous. Her ability must have told her it was safe because slowly and deliberately Victoria nodded her assent.

With a reassuring smile Esme stood up and walked towards them. Bella looked at the taller vampire with apprehension as she stopped right in front of her.

"Don't be nervous, this won't hurt I promise" said Esme softly. Slowly as not to startle her she reached down and took Bella's hands in her own.

It may have been a trick of the light but Bella could have sworn she saw the faintest of white glows where the two of them touched. Bella felt the unique sensation of magic being used on her but it didn't feel hostile or threatening. In fact the feel of the magic was warm and nurturing, something like a sunny carefree spring day. It only lasted for a few short moments before Esme squeezed her hands and let go. Esme met her eyes, giving her a look that was understanding and tender and… _affectionate?_ It made Bella slightly uncomfortable. She really wanted to know what Esme had 'read' off her.

She stepped away to move in front of Victoria and repeated the same process with her. This time Bella was positive she saw a faint glow where the two vampires touched. Again it lasted only a few short moments before Esme dropped her hands. The vampire gave Victoria and odd soft look Bella couldn't decipher before she turned away and looked back at her husband. They also must have gotten good at communicating with just a look because Carlisle broke out into a pleased and relieved looking smile.

"Well it seems you pass. After we negotiate a few details I don't see a problem with letting you stay in our territory for a while. Welcome to Forks."

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The rest of the meeting had been relatively short. They had a few conditions especially when it came to where Victoria was allowed to hunt. It was clear it was still an uncomfortable topic for them but to Bella's surprise they had revealed they had other friends who were human drinkers who only went after dangerous criminals and that they were accepting of such a lifestyle, if somewhat reluctantly.

The biggest surprise was when the Cullens had asked for 'payment' for staying in their territory which apparently was the custom in these situations. They had asked to socialize with and get to know the two of them. Apparently having new people to interact with on more than the most superficial level was rare for the Coven and they valued new 'human' contact… well at least that's what they said. Rosalie didn't look particularly thrilled by the prospect. Neither did Victoria.

In the end however they had agreed. To Bella it simply seemed like they were looking for new acquaintances and friends to help break up the routine of vampire life. Masquerading as a family must get pretty boring after the first few decades. She supposed it could have been much worse, they could have demanded pints of her human blood or her firstborn child or something equally unpleasant. For vampires the Cullens had been amazingly nice.

It was an odd sort of mental dissonance to go from fleeing for her life at the sight of any vampire to suddenly agreeing to 'socialize' with a bunch of them. Bella was sure the absurdity of it all would catch up to her later that night and she would break down into hysterical giggles.

The two of them got back into their car and Bella sagged in relief as soon as they were away from the Cullen property. Despite how nice the Cullens had been she couldn't help but feel a little surprised and grateful they had escaped with all their limbs intact. It wouldn't be long before all that accumulated tension hit her and she was going to spend some time hugging a pillow and hiding under the covers after she had her inevitable post-action stress crash. Hopefully Victoria would stay in the house. Even if she never held her just knowing she was nearby helped.

Speaking of Victoria… Bella glanced at her protector who had her eyes firmly on the road. The vampire seemed uncharacteristically quiet and somber. Bella for her part had so many questions, so many things she wanted to ask about what went on in that meeting she didn't know where to start. She settled for the most inoffensive thing that sprung to mind to start with.

"So, Andromeda?" she asked, putting just a hint of teasing in her voice.

"What's wrong with Andromeda?" came the reply. Victoria wasn't back to being lighthearted like before but she didn't sound particularly angry or upset either. That was good. She could work with that.

"It's not a made up name is it?" said Bella voicing her suspicion.

There was a pause before Victoria answered. "No it's not. It was my middle name."

"Really? Victoria Andromeda?" said Bella again with the teasing tone. She was trying to get Victoria to lighten up and open up. So far it hadn't been working.

"Aren't you the genius?" she said dryly.

"They are a really big ostentatious pair of names. It's good though. I think it suits you. Makes me wonder what your last name was" said Bella unsubtly hinting.

Victoria finally turned to look at her. She gave Bella a pointed look and a quirked up eyebrow as if saying _you know better than to ask that_. Bella momentarily lost herself in those red orbs.

"You can tell me you know. If you don't tell me who will you ever tell?"

Victoria gave her another long look and didn't reply instead turning back towards the road. Sometimes the way Victoria just dismissed her made her feel like a little kid asking her parents things she shouldn't. Bella held back a huff of frustration and decided to change tracks. Obviously Victoria had no intention of telling her what her last name had been.

On top of that Victoria clearly didn't seem to be in a chatty mood. In fact to Bella she seemed almost… troubled by something. Bella decided to try an avenue of conversation she was sure Victoria would want to talk about.

"How do you think it went with the Cullens?"

Victoria was silent for almost a full minute before answering. "I don't know what to make of them. Other than that idiot I never really sensed enough danger to worry too much about. I have a hard time buying into their seemingly utopian happy-families Brady bunch lifestyle though. Seems entirely too good to be true. There has to be a dark side to it we haven't seen yet."

"Geez, cynical much?" said Bella teasingly though couldn't bring herself to disagree. It was kind of hard to believe.

"We should be fine for now as long as we don't take any stupid risks. Carlisle will keep his word. However that doesn't guarantee any of the others might not do something stupid against his wishes. I also have to wonder how many times they've had 'accidents' and attacked humans. Don't care what they say, abstaining from human blood won't erase their desire for it and anyone can lose control in a bad situation. Don't let yourself be alone with one of them" she said seriously.

Bella absently nodded but her mind was already somewhere else. "Speaking of losing control" she began carefully "what was all that with Edward?"

Victoria's face darkened. "It was nothing. Forget about it."

On this point however Bella wouldn't back down. "It wasn't nothing. It was very much not nothing. What was going on? You've never acted like that before. And the things you said-"

Victoria growled at her, the sound threatening. "Let it drop Bella."

"No I won't drop it! Damn it Tori talk to me. Why did you say those things? Why did you say I was yours?" Bella said determined to get an answer. This was too important to her.

"It was nothing."

"You literally screamed it in front of the whole Coven. Don't tell me it was nothing."

Looking at her Victoria looked conflicted and angry, gripping the steering wheel so hard she was putting dents in it. If she pushed a little more she might get something.

"Why is it so hard for you Tori? I'm not an idiot you know. I can pretty much figure out it means you have strong feelings about me. Why is that so awful to admit?" said Bella and despite herself she couldn't keep the tinge of hurt from her voice.

"Oh I have strong feelings about you all right" she said in a nasty tone. Bella didn't let herself get distracted.

"Will you explain it to me please? Tell me what happened in there. Just hearing it was 'your instincts' isn't really a satisfactory explanation. Why would your instincts react that way in the first place?"

"Instincts aren't always in sync with everything else."

"Instincts are part of who you are. Don't try to make it sound like it has nothing to do with you. Why can't you just admit you at least like me?" said Bella her voice rising. She didn't even notice the tears of frustration gathering in her eyes.

The vampire said nothing. Bella wasn't about to give up.

"Would you prefer it if I went to live with the Cullens?"

Victoria visibly ground her teeth. "No. That's not safe."

"But it's more than that isn't it? You completely lost it when Edward kept pushing for them to take me in, to take me away from you. Tell me why Tori. Why can't you just admit that you actually give a damn about me?" said Bella, her voice raw and pleading.

At that Victoria slowly turned to face Bella taking her eyes off the road completely. Her face was dangerous and unyielding. Bella felt a shiver of fear run down her spine.

Taking one hand off the steering wheel she brought it up to her neck. With one nail she flicked the metal collar around her neck, the metallic clink seeming to echo in the silent car.

_Oh._ Bella's face dropped and her heart fell to her stomach.

"Tell me Isabella," began Victoria in a mocking tone "if you could take this off, would you?"

Bella shrank down in her seat and had to look away from Victoria's accusing stare.

The truth was that Bella did not know how to remove the magic of the collar. It was incredibly complex magic created by her parents and they had not bothered to design a way for the spell to be safely removed. If Bella were ever to take it off it would take a considerable amount of research and luck before she had any clue how to do it safely.

The truth was however she had never done any research. She had never looked beyond just knowing how the magic of the collar worked. In large part it was because she didn't want to know.

Would she remove Victoria's collar? No. She was too much of a coward.

Bella's biggest fear was suddenly finding herself alone. Alone in the world, alone without anyone she could count on or turn to who would be by her side. Alone to be hunted like game across the world by the Volturi without anyone who would help her. All her family was gone and being on the run had made it impossible to form any real meaningful bonds with anyone. On top of that who would want to get close to her if it meant they would be targeted by the most powerful group of vampires in the world?

Victoria was the only person she had. It made Bella feel beyond awful that she was there against her will, both because she was afraid it meant the vampire didn't actually care for her and because Victoria was special enough to her that she didn't want to see her unhappy. Bella had often been glad she had no idea how to remove the collar so she never had to make that choice. Because part of her was convinced Victoria would leave her the first chance she could if the collar ever came off.

Just the thought of Victoria abandoning her made her feel like a rock was crushing her chest making it hard to breathe.

Part of her had always wondered how much Victoria actually cared for her. She'd thought that her earlier outburst and marking her were proof that she did care. In fact it had made her stupidly happy to have some tangible proof that on some level she truly mattered to Victoria. But would that be enough to keep her from leaving?

Her silence and refusal to meet her eyes answered Victoria's question.

"That's what I thought," the vampire said with disdain "and you have the gall to wonder why I have a problem liking you? Instead of having immortality I'm going to die right along with you and you wouldn't even change it if you could. Stupid girl."

Bella had never felt more awful or like such a terrible person as she did in that moment. She had always avoided thinking about the implications of the collar but here they were being brought out naked into the open. Hearing the anger and frustration in Victoria's voice she couldn't ignore the reality of it anymore. Tears started flowing freely down Bella's cheeks.

"I'm sorry" she whispered. Victoria didn't answer her.

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**Hope that wasn't too much of a downer. Like always more reviews equal faster updates!**


	7. Chapter 6

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**AN1: This is a more sedate chapter than the last few but I'm still happy with it. Take the time to enjoy the imagery is my advice. Listen to the song it's quite good.**

**AN2: It seems 7k word chapters is my new norm since this is the third chapter in a row to run that long. In a way it feels more satisfying. **

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"So how do you guys think it went?" asked Emmett, leaning back on the couch and putting his arm around his wife.

Esme worried her lip as she thought that her 'son' Emmett posed a very good question. It certainly had started off a bit shaky and things seemed to take a definite turn for the worse when Edward had provoked the redhead calling herself Andromeda. When Jasper had come to her and Carlisle voicing his suspicions that they were being lied to Esme's heart sank and she feared that things would turn out for the worse.

Thankfully they had agreed to let her use her power on them and she had been able to tell without a doubt that they held no ill will in their hearts against her family and had no desire to cause any problems while in the area. However that wasn't all she saw. Being able to look into the hearts and souls of others gives quite a bit more information than most would imagine, even if she can't get any insight into their minds the way Edward can. It made her feel a little guilty since they had downplayed the invasion of privacy her power caused. She would keep as much as she could to herself in order to balance telling her family what they needed to hear and respecting as much of their guests privacy as she could.

"I think it went well," said Carlisle, earning a ladylike huff of disbelief from Rosalie which he promptly ignored, "Andromeda did seem a bit prickly and distant but you can't really blame her. Anyone would have been on edge bringing a human unexpectedly into the midst of seven strange vampires. In hindsight it might have been kinder to limit the meeting to a smaller group of people."

"I liked them, especially the girl. Poor thing was trying to be so stoic wasn't she? It was sort of adorable," said Alice with a fond little smile on her face.

"She's not a puppy for us to take in. We want to befriend another human drinking vampire? I didn't think we were that desperate. But even if we do want to play nice with Andromeda a human has no business hanging around us. We should keep our distance at least until she's turned," Rosalie said with a little growl. She obviously wasn't thrilled with the idea of Marie being turned but she wasn't about to go face down Andromeda over it. That wasn't any of her business.

"It can't be that bad can it? I mean if the human drinker can manage to be around her for so long surely we can too?" said Alice, but there was a hint of doubt in her voice.

"Oh please. Andromeda's clearly a special case. What happens when the human skins her knee and there's fresh blood when she's with us? One of us could very well lose it and attack her. Do you really want Jasper to have to put up with that temptation? She smells far better than the average breather. I wouldn't put it past more than one of us losing control and then where would we be? Dead girl, vengeful vampire and us having to move again. I'm not sure who came up with this idea but it's the stupidest one we've had in a long time," said Rosalie.

Esme winced at that. While Rosalie was putting the darkest spin on things she couldn't say the blonde was completely wrong. Human blood was just as tempting to them as it was to every other vampire and some of them had attacked humans accidentally in the past with fatal results. Ironically while animal drinkers overall had better control it was actually worse if they attacked a human and tasted human blood. While an experienced human drinker could drink from a human without killing them an animal drinker would almost inevitably lose control and drain a human dry once even a drop of blood touched their lips. Despite their best intentions all animal drinkers were like severe alcoholics constantly fighting against a relapse.

Still if they were careful the girl should be safe. From what Esme had read off the girl she could use some of them in her life more than she realized.

"We should be fine as long as we're careful. It wouldn't be radically different than you going to school after all," said Esme trying to put a positive spin on things.

"So what did you read off of them Esme? I saw you go all mother-mode with Belly Bella Bear right after you read her," said Emmett.

Alice made a face halfway between disgust and amusement. "Really Emmett? Belly Bella Bear?"

He grinned up at his sister "You can't tell me it's not catchy. Don't worry I have a half dozen others lined up."

"So what did you read off them Esme?" said Rosalie trying to get the conversation back on track. She subtly leaned into her husband and gave Esme an expectant look.

"Edward should be back soon. I think we should wait to discuss what has transpired until he returns," said Carlisle thoughtfully.

An hour later Edward returned fresh from having hunted and his arm was already well on its way to full health. It was once again functional but the diamond-hard bones would be somewhat brittle for at least another one or two days. He came in with a scowl on his face and disheveled hair and clothing from the fight and subsequent hunt.

The Cullen family showed Edward looks of concern, amusement and displeasure. By the look on his face he wasn't entirely pleased with what he was reading from their minds. Rosalie gazed at Edward with an icy level look before turning to look meaningfully at Esme. The vampire matriarch took a deep breath while she gathered her thoughts.

"Well I suppose you all want to know what it was I read off our guests. First I should state clearly that there wasn't any hostile or ill intent towards us or the desire to cause any kind of trouble. We would never have agreed to let them stay otherwise," she said. There were curious and thoughtful looks all around except from Edward who looked displeased.

"So what are they doing here? I need to know if that red headed witch has some kind of agenda. Something nefarious is going on here I can practically smell it," said Edward.

"You're just mad she kicked your ass. Hey it's a new age of gender equality so I'd feel bad if I made fun of you for getting your ass kicked by a girl so I'll keep those thoughts to myself," said Emmett with a teasing smirk.

"I couldn't use my power on her! And we never did get any kind of answer as to how that works anyway," said Edward sounding increasingly irate.

"Edward, please" began Esme with a slight chiding tone, "to answer your question they both are here for the same reason. They are running from something or someone and they are scared of whatever it is, especially the girl. Poor Bella is terrified of whatever it is they are running from."

"Bella and not Marie?" asked Alice.

Esme shrugged. "Ask her next time what she prefers to be called. Though Bella does roll right off the tongue and I think she looks like a Bella."

"Wait, why are we suddenly acting like them being on the run is not a big deal? Who knows what could be following them," said Rosalie, a displeased frown on her face.

"It's more common than you might imagine," said Carlisle, "over a vampire's life they unfortunately tend to make more enemies than friends over the years. Some vampires can be especially touchy, a perceived slight against them over something trivial could earn what amounts to a blood feud. It's likely someone found out about Marie and wants to kill her to hurt Andromeda. It's certainly not the first time such a thing has happened."

Despite herself Esme sucked in a sharp breath at hearing that. It was all true and Esme couldn't help but feel protective of Bella. She just couldn't help it. Seeing into the girl had roused nearly all her of her mothering and protective instincts. The girl was far too precious to allow any harm to come to her from bickering vampires or anything else.

"That's not surprising. Obviously Marie hanging around that human drinker is too dangerous for her," said Edward. Esme was reminded of his strange rant that had led to the fight with Andromeda.

Apparently she wasn't the only one.

"Would you care to tell us what that outburst was all about Edward? I'm sure you know it was highly inappropriate," said Jasper leaning against the far wall.

Edward was silent for a few long moments before taking a deep breath. He looked at each of his family members seriously before saying, "I think Marie might be my destined mate. In fact I'm sure of it."

This caused an uproar and suddenly every member of the Cullen family was talking at once. It took a little while for the din to die down enough for one voice to be heard above the others.

"Well if that is true then congratulations son," said Carlisle with a tentative smile.

"This is bullshit. No one knows who their mate is after meeting them a couple of times and having a few conversations with them. I don't know what your sudden fixation is with this girl but she doesn't belong to you and she doesn't belong here with us," said Rosalie hotly.

Edward bristled at that and stepped towards Rosalie aggressively. "Are you trying to keep me away from my mate? How would you feel if Emmett was palling around with some human drinking harlot?"

"As usual you're completely missing the point" Rosalie replied with a withering glare.

"Alice, do you see anything about this?" asked Emmett looking concerned.

"I'll try," she said looking uncomfortable with the situation in the room. Her eyes went out of focus and she stared off into space for a few long moments before coming back. "I can't see Bella but I can see everything around her and I can see Edward's future too," she said shaking her head "it doesn't look to me like they end up together."

"That doesn't mean she's my not my mate. That just means someone is keeping her away from me," said Edward trying to sound reasonable.

"Edward honey," said Esme gently "it seems like you feel very strongly about this but even for me and Carlisle it took some time before either of us began to feel like we were meant to be together. You should at least stay open to the possibility that she might not be your mate. If it turns out that she is then everything will fall into place, you'll see. Until then just try to keep an open mind?"

Edward looked unhappy at this but nodded his agreement. "Fine. But I _am_ right, I know it. And you'll all see that in time." With that he walked over to one of the empty chairs and sat down.

Esme resisted the urge to sigh at her son's fixated and unshakable opinions. "Well then shall we get back to business?"

"You were about to tell us what you were able to read off our guests" prompted Carlisle.

"That's right," she said gracing her husband with a smile "well I suppose I'll begin with Bella. I've rarely seen a more compassionate and beautiful soul than hers. That girl truly is a gem. She's the type of person who may lay her life down to save a total stranger. I'm glad we made this arrangement because she truly is someone worth knowing," said Esme with a fond smile.

"And she and I are going to be best friends!" said Alice bouncing up and down excitedly.

"I thought you couldn't see her" said Jasper questioningly.

"I can't, but I'm figuring out how to see things around her to sort of figure out what's going on. I also see a suspiciously Bella shaped void in my future. She's going to be my best friend, I just know it" Alice said happily.

"Well then I'm happy for you dear," said Jasper with a fond smile towards his wife.

"What else about Marie?" Edward asked wanting to know more.

One of the side benefits of Esme's gift was that it gave her mind partial protection from Edward's gift. While he could still hear her surface thoughts he couldn't dig into her mind and find out information she wasn't actively thinking about. She didn't know how it worked but she was glad it did. There were some things she had picked up from Bella that really should be kept private and that would more than likely disturb her son especially since he seemed to despise the redhead Andromeda.

Edward frowned at these thoughts and Esme quickly directed her thoughts to where she wanted them to go. "Bella is terrified of something that is hunting her, or them, I can't be sure but I suspect whatever it is is after both of them. Whatever is hunting them has hurt her very badly in the past. Her greatest desire seems to be safety, security and stability with loved ones which is something I suspect she hasn't had in quite some time."

Esme paused at that letting everyone absorb what she had just said. Before anyone could ask her any more questions about Marie/Bella she moved on. She wasn't going to infringe on the girl's privacy any more than she already had.

"Andromeda on the other hand is somewhat unique for a human drinking vampire. She has the soul of a lion to put it bluntly. She'll hunt and kill humans when she's hungry and does so ruthlessly and without remorse. On the other hand I'm pretty positive she doesn't kill for fun and she doesn't engage in any of the sadistic games humans drinkers often like to play. Andromeda hunts when she needs to and enjoys it but she won't do it unnecessarily. Like I said, soul and mindset of a lion or some other comparable predator."

"Does she actually stick to a 'scumbag diet' like she claimed?" asked Rosalie seemingly very interested in that point.

Esme nodded. "I believe she does, but that she somewhat resents it. If I had to guess I'd say she limits herself to egregious criminals because Bella makes her do it."

This made Emmett break out into loud guffaws "I guess we know now who wears the pants in that relationship. And Andy came in here looking all serious and scary too. I wouldn't have guessed that little triple B had it in her to boss a vampire like that around!"

"Wait, how could Bella make her do anything?" asked Rosalie.

Esme thought about it then shrugged. "I'm not sure. Make is not the right word maybe, more like made enough trouble that Andromeda finally gave in. Not sure what kind of trouble though. That's just the feeling I got."

"But she _is_ a remorseless killer. You just said it yourself Esme. I don't think we should tolerate someone like that on our land and that just proves that Marie is in danger," said Edward emphatically.

Esme shook her head. "She's not a danger to her Edward. Andromeda would never seriously hurt Bella. Not on purpose."

"Is this something you 'read' off her?" said Edward sarcastically.

"Yes it is and I won't go into more detail about that. But my reading her is completely unnecessary to prove the point. Andromeda has claimed Bella as her human and her instincts are completely in line with this. We saw how she reacted to a perceived threat and after you left she instinctively scent marked Bella while still partially lost in her vampire nature. Andromeda will do her best to keep her alive and protected until she is turned."

Edward growled at that. "I will not allow her to be turned into a soulless monster like us!"

Esme fought the urge to roll her eyes. She loved her son, she really did, but he was absolutely inflexible when he made his mind up about something. It was an alarming trait that had more than once gone too far and gotten him into trouble. Esme prayed that Edward wouldn't do anything rash. Despite what he might think Edward had no right to Bella and she knew from reading the two newcomers that he wasn't wanted either.

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The first thing she noticed was the cold.

It was cold where ever she was, cold and dark. All Bella could see were the vague shapes and outlines of indistinguishable forms seemingly looming over her and around her. Bella sensed the dark and the shadows were somehow not safe and she felt scared, knowing instinctively that she was in danger.

The shadows began to move on their own around of her, finger like extensions that looked like black against darker black came from all directions intent on grabbing her, pulling her down, ripping and tearing. Bella turned and ran, fear and a racing heart giving her extra strength and speed to run. However no matter where she ran it was all darkness against dark in every direction. Even as she ran the darkness closed in all around her reaching to grab her and pull the life from her very bones.

Bella cried out when the first tentacle of darkness wrapped itself around her ankle, causing her to fall face first onto the ground. She tried to pull her foot away but the shadow tendril held firm while slowly creeping up her body radiating a deathly chill wherever it touched. In seconds other tentacles gripped her, wrapping around her arms and head and torso. Bella whimpered and cried as the darkness and the cold leached the life from her. She felt herself growing weak and cold and distant from everything in the world.

Bella began to sob, a feeling of utter helplessness descending upon her. Her struggles grew weak and her strength left her as the cold sunk deep into her bones. She gave up, hanging limp and waiting for the end as she knew there was no possible way she could escape.

Just when she thought it was all over she felt warm arms wrap around her waist. Bella tensed in surprise as she felt the arms pull her back into a warm welcoming body. The warmth of the arms around her and the body at her back chased away the chill inside her and the darkness gradually began to recede. She felt the person behind her nuzzle her neck and she caught a whiff of the familiar scent of flowers and spice she knew so well.

_Victoria_ thought Bella with warmth and relief, letting herself fall backwards into the taller woman's embrace.

They were all of a sudden in an elegant room done in deep reds and dark wood. Dark drapes covered the windows and the carpet under her bare feet was thick and luxurious. The lighting was low and a decadent four posted king sized bed lay directly in front of them. Bella's heart rate sped up and her breathing quickened at the sight of it. Just looking at that bed she knew what was coming next.

Victoria's hand trailed from around her waist and slipped under the hem of Bella's shirt. Her nails traced patterns against the bare skin of Bella's stomach causing the younger girl to shiver in her embrace. She felt Victoria's lips ghost over her ear gently exhaling hot air as she breathed.

"Are you ready to become mine?" she asked, silkily, seductively.

Bella felt an immediate and almost painful surge of arousal at those words. "I-I've always been yours," she replied breathily.

"Are you sure? Are you ready to give me your body?" With that Victoria took the hand still wrapped around Bella's waist and brought it to the top of her jeans. When Victoria popped the button open Bella's hips jerked forward against her will.

"How about your mind?" Victoria continued in a husky voice that dripped of naughty things between the sheets while at the same time slowly tugging down the zipper of Bella's jeans. The younger girl could feel herself getting massively wet and ready.

"How about your very soul?" she purred as her hand dipped into Bella's pants and cupped her sex over her underwear possessively. Bella let out a whimper at finally feeling the touch she'd always wanted.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? You want me to own you," Victoria said as she started using her fingertips to tease Bella over her panties. "You want me to have power over you. You want to spend eternity as my little bitch, don't you Bella?"

Bella whimpered and then cried out as Victoria found and pushed on her clit.

"Yes!" Bella cried out, slightly embarrassed but beyond caring. "P-please…"

"Please what?" asked Victoria and Bella could hear the smug satisfaction in her voice.

"Please take me. Make me yours, I've always been yours.. Victoria please," she begged while the redhead continued teasing her clit through her underwear.

Suddenly she found herself on the bed naked and on her back. Victoria was leaning over her completely nude, her legs on either side of Bella and overwhelming the girl with her sheer physical presence. Victoria smirked at her and it was hungry and victorious. Her fangs were bared and she looked literally ready to devour her. Bella shuddered feeling half scared and half excited about whatever was coming next.

However instead of taking in the goddess looming over her Bella's gaze kept getting drawn towards one tiny detail. It seemed odd to her. Without thinking about it Bella blurted out the question.

"Victoria, where's your collar?"

The vampire locked eyes with her and slowly reached one hand up to touch the skin of her bare neck. "You never took it off. I will hate you forever for that," she said and Victoria's countenance suddenly turned frosty and hard.

Suddenly Bella's danger instincts began to ping off the charts. She tried to scramble her way out from under the naked Victoria but the vampire grabbed her shoulders and roughly kept her in place. Victoria's eyes quickly turned from a cherry red to pitch black as the light suddenly went out of the room. The only thing that Bella could still see was Victoria above her pinning her to the bed.

The darkness was back and the tendrils of inky blackness began to crawl over the bed and wrap themselves around Bella. With wide panicky eyes Bella began to struggle and buck her hips but it was completely useless against the strength of Victoria. The vampire continued to regard her with that same stony look as Bella felt the life being leached out of her by the darkness only to be replaced by a gnawing icy cold.

"Victoria please don't do this. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Bella cried but Victoria made no response as the darkness began to wrap around her face and neck.

"This is where you pay the piper," said Victoria. With that the redhead struck, diving her head down and sinking her fangs deep into Bella's neck. The pain was immense and Bella somehow knew right away that Victoria intended to drain her dry. Bella buckled and fought but it was completely useless, her strength all but gone to the darkness and the icy cold. She felt Victoria not being the least big gentle, tearing at her neck and sucking her lifeblood as her heart slowed.

"I'm sorry," she muttered one last time before her vision began to fade.

"_I'll hate you forever_"

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Bella woke violently, kicking the covers and sucking in deep ragged gasps. She frantically looked around in the darkness of her room, wide eyed and unseeing until she realized what had happened.

_A dream. It was just a dream._

Bella sank back down onto her pillow, a sheen of sweat covering her body and making her uncomfortable. She realized with some distress that there were tears streaming down her face. Had she been crying in her sleep? Did people even do that?

Bella took deep even breaths trying to slow her heart rate down and regain some measure of calm. The dream had been so vivid and intense. She could still feel the terror and the lingering arousal along with some phantom feelings of cold. Gingerly she reached to up to touch her neck where dream Victoria had viciously torn into her. To her relief the skin felt completely unharmed.

She wrapped the covers around herself and curled up into a ball in bed feeling incredibly disturbed by the dream (nightmare?) she'd just had. It left her feeling vulnerable and scared and frankly like crap. What had that been all about? Her subconscious was seriously messed up.

_Are you ready to become mine?_ Bella shuddered at the memory. She didn't really want that did she? Ok so she'd more or less come to terms with the fact that she had a crush of unhealthy proportions on Victoria with a large side of carnal lust. Embarrassing maybe but totally normal for a healthy teenage girl. Having a few dirty dreams about Victoria wouldn't have surprised her, in fact she would have welcomed them since it was probably the only way she could experience being with Victoria in _that way_. This particular dream however just opened up a lot of questions that were making Bella increasingly uncomfortable and the eroticism was drowned out by how incredibly disturbing it had been.

Bella looked over at the clock next to her bed. Five thirty in the morning, an hour before she was supposed to wake up and get ready for school. Deciding she wasn't going to get any more sleep Bella got up and went into the bathroom. A long hot shower was just what she needed to try and shake the last grips of that unsettling dream.

She stripped in the bathroom and got under the hot spray. The house might not be very big but it did have a nicely oversized hot water tank and Bella intended to make full use of it. Bella tried to forget about her dream but the disturbed and uneasy feelings just wouldn't go away.

Maybe the reason she was so disturbed is because she was afraid there was some truth to it. Bella had had a hard time falling asleep the night before. Thoughts of her conversation in the car with Victoria had kept playing over and over again in her head. Was it any wonder she'd had a dream about the stupid collar? But the dream was bothering Bella for more reasons than just that.

She'd always worried that Victoria would leave her if she could and had always wondered just how much the redhead cared about her. Bella had never before considered that Victoria might grow to _hate_ her. Hate her for not trying to free her, hate her for making her have a pathetically short human lifespan like her own.

It wasn't fair to her vampire. Furthermore Bella knew well enough that if Victoria did start to hate her she would cave anyway and find a way to remove the collar, or at least try to find a way. She couldn't bear it if the only person she had left to care about in the world actually hated her. Was it really inevitable? Was that what she was destined to do?

She couldn't just let herself be all alone in the world though. She just couldn't. If she was going to find herself alone she was better off dead. But the alternative to that was Victoria growing more and more resentful of her as time went on.

What was she supposed to do?

00

After a sinfully long hour long shower where her fingers and toes were all pruney Bella fled to her room and took her time getting ready. She heard the shower start up minutes after she had left and hoped she had left Victoria enough hot water. Bella took almost half an hour picking out clothes, brushing her hair and even tried to read a little bit from one of her school books. Finally unable to hide in her room any longer she went outside to face Victoria who she was nervous about talking to given everything that had happened the day before.

When she opened the door she heard music drifting up the stairs from the kitchen. At hearing the song being played Bella was hit with a powerful wave of nostalgia.

_Optional Listening – The Sanctuary by Darling Violetta _

The song took her back to the summer when she was thirteen when she and Victoria had spent a few weeks watching _Buffy _and it's spin off series _Angel_ back to back until they'd watched every single episode in the combined twelve seasons. Bella had always loved _Buffy _but to her surprise Victoria became a huge unrepentant fan of _Angel_. She'd once described it as _melancholy, tragic, dark, funny, full of kitsch and awesome._ The song playing downstairs was the theme song from _Angel_.

Bella let the sorrowful, sensual violin and vocals wash over her as she headed down the stairs. It brought back that time when the two of them had been getting along, Victoria joking and making fun of _Buffy_ while never failing to point out all the ways in which _Angel_ was better. That had been their relationship as far as she could remember, hot and cold, Victoria being her best friend at one point and then next week being a virtual stranger. Now that Bella was starting to realize more why that might be she couldn't help feelings of guilt start to claw at her.

When Bella reached the bottom of the stairs and came in view of the kitchen her eyes widened at what she saw.

Victoria was dressed for school in her typical punk rock girl disguise, this time in a purple skirt, boots, stockings and a black _Dead can Dance _t-shirt practically painted on her body. The skirt wasn't especially short but it still clung to her bottom in deliciously captivating ways. Victoria was doing something in between dancing and cooking her breakfast. _Cookance? Breakdance?_

She had a spatula in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other while swaying her hips with enthusiasm to the beat of the music. She was standing in front of the stove where she had eggs and bacon cooking on two different skillets. Victoria stirred the eggs and flipped the bacon before raising her hands over her head and spinning in place in time to the beat with sensuous rolls of her hips. Her hands trailed down her body as she turned back to the food, which she kept in sight while tapping both ends of the spoon against the counter in tune with the drums of the song.

It was such a surreal sight, a goddess dressed as a teenager making cooking and dancing early in the morning a thousand times more sexy than it had any right to be. Bella froze and stared numbly at the sight. Victoria noticed and caught her eye, giving her a wicked little smile before going back and _making love_ to the music, completely uninhibited as she gave herself over to the beat and moved her body to the music wantonly without holding back. Oh yeah and occasionally stirring the eggs and turning over her bacon.

It was weird. It was unconventional. It was sexy. _It was so Victoria. _

_Dead can Dance shirt and she's dancing early in the morning. That kind of humor is also totally Victoria. _

Despite all her troubled thoughts Bella couldn't help but let a grin spread over her face. It didn't matter that she was dead, when she cut lose Victoria had more _Joie de vivre _in her little toe than most people did in their whole bodies. She often came across as dour or serious but that was just because she was always worried about their safety. The rare times when Victoria felt like she could let her hair down the red headed vampire was a joy to watch.

Finally the song came to an end and next on the playlist was something much more mellow. Victoria reached in a cabinet and got a plate, loaded the bacon and eggs onto it and got two pieces of toast out of the oven. She took it all and put it on the table, giving Bella a questioning raised eyebrow as if asking why she was still standing over there and not coming over to eat her especially made breakfast.

Bella coughed to cover up her embarrassment and went to sit at the table with Victoria standing close by. The look the vampire gave her was slightly apprehensive as Bella sat down. Bella cleared her throat lightly and said, "Thank you. It looks and smells lovely."

Victoria made a face at that. "It smells like shit to me, but I'm glad it smells good to you at least."

Bella picked up her fork and played with it idly. "What's the occasion?" she asked a little too casually. Victoria almost never cooked for her since she didn't like the smell.

"Peace" replied the vampire simply, shrugging casually.

Bella nodded feeling both relieved and anxious. In Victoria-speak she was saying that for whatever reason she didn't want to fight anymore so she was going to act and pretend like everything was fine between them. If Bella had to guess she suspected it was because it wouldn't be good to be seen mad at each other in front of the Cullens. The meal might also have been a bit of an apology. However Bella was under no illusions that everything was forgiven and forgotten. Whatever grievances there were between them were just being postponed until a later time.

Victoria turned away and headed back to the kitchen. "What do you want to drink?" she asked her.

"Apple juice please," replied Bella tucking into her breakfast.

It hit her then out of the blue as most revelations tended to happen to her. Eating the breakfast Victoria had made her she knew she couldn't let Victoria, her best friend, mentor, protector be tied up with that collar until she, Bella, died. It was inhumane and it was unfair. She couldn't let her own selfishness keep a person she loved trapped to her that way. It just wasn't fair.

But what would she do if Victoria left? Would Victoria go back to killing innocent people? Would Bella be responsible if that happened?

Bella wouldn't be able to remove the collar anytime soon so she decided to shelve those questions for now and deal with them later. She suddenly lost her appetite as she realized what she needed to do. She needed to set Victoria free.

00

The car ride to the school was quiet but unlike the night before the quiet was mostly comfortable. Bella still felt a tension between them but it was subdued and the girl was thankful for that. Every few minutes Bella would look over at Victoria, not sure what she was looking for but unable to help herself. Her cascading red curls and almost delicate, regal features kept drawing her eyes as her thoughts from that morning raced across her mind over and over again.

"Penny for your thoughts?" said Victoria without looking away from the road.

Bella bit her lip. Should she tell Victoria what she had decided to do just that morning? She decided she better not for now. There were too many questions and she knew it would become a huge issue as soon as she opened her mouth.

Instead she said, "I'm not exactly sure how we're supposed to deal with the Cullens. What does 'socializing' mean? Do we sit with them at lunch? Go catch a movie? Braid each other's hair and talk about our feelings? This arrangement we have with them seems kind of vague."

"I figure we'll just play it by ear. Won't be too bad and it's not as strange as you might think. The thing I'm not comfortable about is having you near so many vampires for long periods of time" Victoria said with a frown.

"But if there's a problem you'll catch it right?" asked Bella.

Victoria sucked in a breath. "I _should_, but as we've found out relying on my powers to keep you out of trouble doesn't always work perfectly. We'll need to minimize the risk," she said.

Bella nodded at that and fell silent lost in her own thoughts.

Before long they arrived at the school and Bella guiltily watched as Victoria's skirt rode up to flash a perfect stocking covered thigh as she got out of the car. There had been times recently when she had started to wonder if she was actually a horny teenage boy in a girl's body. Her ogling of Victoria was just getting worse as time went on and she didn't seem able to stop herself.

Bella got out of the car herself and came face to face with a serious looking Victoria in front of her. Her brown eyes bored intensely into Bella making the younger girl feel just a little off balance.

"Don't let yourself be alone with one of them. And for the sake of all that's holy don't tell them anything that can lead to them finding out more about us, you in particular. We might be friendly with them for now but that doesn't mean they're our friends. Understand?" she said in a serious and severe tone of voice.

Bella nodded. "I got it. Don't worry I know that the more details are out there the worse it is for us. I'll be fine I promise."

Victoria looked skeptical and that made Bella a little annoyed.

"Look I can handle it. Let's just get going or we're going to be late to class," she said sounding aggravated.

Victoria gave her one last searching look before turning on her heel and marching off towards the school. Bella moved to follow but didn't make an effort to pull up next to Victoria. She didn't usually like to walk behind her but that skirt… the purple cloth clung to her well-shaped rear in a way that showed or suggested every line, swell and curve. She must have been wearing a thong.

Bella decided she needed to get herself a vibrator or something. Her screaming hormones were getting ridiculous.

00

Bella arrived in her first class with a few minutes to spare. Most of the students were already seated and waiting. Bella froze as she spotted Edward Cullen seated in the same seat as he had been the day before.

_Crap, I forgot about him! How do I handle this?_

Bella hadn't seen him since the fight he had with Victoria… the fight Victoria had fought over her she recalled feeling pleased with that fact. He had run off into the woods looking murderously angry. Provoking Victoria into a fight had not earned him any points with Bella.

And yet… he didn't seem like a bad guy. He'd gotten all huffy and in Victoria's face over her because he thought she could lose control and bite her. He had been trying to protect her, a total stranger. It was sweet and kind of chivalrous even if he had gone about it with the subtlety of a blow horn and a wrecking ball. Besides it's not like he ever _actually_ had a chance to hurt Victoria. Bella decided to swallow her apprehension and give him a chance.

Edward spotted her and smiled at her and Bella returned the smile in kind. See? Nice. That wasn't so hard. He seemed friendly enough and not upset about what had happened the night before so Bella decided she would take the chance and take the seat in front of him.

After she sat down she turned around to face him and forced a friendly smile on her face. "Hi Edward. How are you?"

He gave her a small smile back seeming genuinely pleased that she was talking to him. "Very well thank you. How about yourself?"

"Oh you know, so-so, not too bad not too good. Just my third day in paradise," she said gesturing vaguely at the whole school.

"Is everything all right?" he said sounding strangely intense for some reason but he seemed genuine in his concern.

Bella was _not_ going to divulge all her problems to a vampire who was a casual acquaintance at best. Still he seemed nice so she wanted to give him something genuine. "Nothing major just living with other people sometimes has its hiccups you know? You must know all about that living with six others. You think you know somebody so well but all the time you find out something new. I guess that's just how it is though."

Bella looked over when a student dropped a book so she missed the suspicious and distrustful frown on Edward's face. When she looked back at him his face was once again in a pleasant smile.

"You're right, I am always finding out something new about my family all the time. You wouldn't think so after living with them for so long but every person seems to be an endless source of mystery. It's fascinating when you start to peel the layers back."

"Yeah, well unfortunately I haven't known that many people well enough to relate. Tori's the only one really. There are so many layers to that woman I don't think I've even scratched the surface."

"She might not be as hard to figure out as you imagine," he said, thinking how all bloodthirsty murderers were the same, "what about your family? Haven't you ever explored their hidden depths?" he gently probed.

Bella realized the conversation was heading into dangerous territory for her because Edward was asking about things she couldn't really talk about. But maybe just in general terms it would be all right. "My family all died some years ago."

A sad look crossed Edward's face. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks. I'm more ok talking about it now. Still hurts but I want to make the effort you know?"

"What happened if you don't mind me asking?"

Bella winced. "Vampires," she replied without thinking.

Edward's eyes narrowed at that. How convenient that she had been picked up by a human drinking vampire after her whole family had been killed by the same type. In Edward's mind he could see how Andromeda would have arranged to have her family murdered so she could take the girl for herself.

"You're not mad about last night are you? I mean with the fight and everything that happened?" asked Bella a little nervously.

Edward stayed quiet for a few moments before answering. "I still think that I'm right, that it's too dangerous for you to be with a human drinking vampire. However I don't think I went about it the right way. I'm not planning on holding a grudge over that fight."

Bella smiled at that. "Well that's good to hear. And I appreciate your concern, I really do. It's nice that someone else out there might care about my wellbeing. But you really don't have to worry about it. I promise you I'm not in any danger from Tori whatsoever. I told you guys she's my best friend, I trust her with my life."

Edward just nodded but didn't reply. It wouldn't do much good to start arguing with Bella right then about her poor misguided ideas. After he gained her trust he would get her to see just how horrible the human drinker she hung around with really was. Bella really was just too wonderful a girl, obviously wanting to see the best in everyone, even a murderous human drinking vampire. It was up to a man who really knew the dangers of the world to keep her safe.

"So do you have any plans for this Friday?" asked Edward.

Bella shook her head. "We don't really. Unless something is going on I'll try to do my homework and maybe have a movie night or something. Why? Were you guys planning on doing something?"

"We weren't. But I was hoping to do something."

"Oh?"

"Marie, would you do me the honor of going on a date with me this Friday night?"

Oh.

_Oh. _

Bella's mind ground to a halt. A date? _Her?_ Someone had asked her out on a date who wasn't a disgusting horny teenage boy? But it was with a vampire. A vampire she hardly knew. Was that a good idea? It didn't seem like a good idea. Why was he asking her in the first place? Why would he want to go out with her? It didn't make sense. What would Tori say? She would probably murder her if she accepted. But why should she care about that? She knew Tori must have at least some clue as to Bella's feelings for her and she completely ignored them. As much as Bella might want it to she didn't think anything would happen between her and Victoria anytime soon. Would going on a date really be such a bad thing?

Bella looked at Edward, took in his extremely handsome and somewhat boyish face, his hopeful smile, his pretty gold eyes. Not as sexy as red but still pretty damn amazing. He was a nice guy. Maybe a little headstrong but he'd been nothing but a complete gentleman towards her. If she was in a dating mood he wouldn't be a bad catch at all. Should she?

"I'll think about it" she said with a shy smile.

**00**

**Will she? Won't she? Like always more reviews mean faster updates!**


	8. Chapter 7

**AN1: There were some people asking about having some scenes from Victoria's POV. I plan on there eventually being some but not until this story arc is over which still has some ways to go. There will be some scattered Cullens POV but for the most part it will be all Bella. **

**AN2: Does anyone want to take a crack at making an image for this story? I don't own photoshop or anything and wouldn't know how to begin to make a nice looking image for the story. If anyone thinks they would like to do so feel free to contact me. **

**AN3: This chapter was going to be well over 12k words so I had to cut it in half. It's a tad shorter than the last two but I hope you still enjoy it. Also I want to thank everyone who's read and reviewed this story so far! It feels like **_**A Witch and her Vampire**_** really jumped in popularity last chapter. The views count skyrocketed and I got over forty reviews after posting last chapter! So thank you again everyone. Ya'll really make my day.**

**00**

There was a new person in Bella's art class that day.

Alice Cullen sat in one of a series of round tables which is how the class was arranged. The petite vampire looked right at Bella as soon as she walked in the classroom and gave Bella the biggest, happiest smile teenager could ever remember seeing in her entire life. Alice's face lit up like a beloved long lost relative had just walked in the room and this made Bella somewhat uncomfortable. People around the classroom gave Alice and Bella looks ranging from curious to disbelieving. Alice ignored them all and started motioning for Bella to come sit next to her.

Bella was sure Alice hadn't been in this class the day before. In fact she didn't have any of the Cullens in her classes except for Edward in first period, she had made sure of that. Reluctantly Bella went over and sat next to the pocket sized, oddly enthusiastic vampire.

"Hi Bella!" said Alice enthusiastically and the girl looked to be stopping herself from giving Bella a hug. Good thing too because Bella might have jumped out of her seat and bolted.

"Hi Alice" said Bella a little awkwardly, giving the vampire a watery smile.

Alice leaned in a little closer to her and whispered, "I know you go by Bella at school, but do you prefer Bella or Marie?"

Bella swallowed. "I go by both. Bella's fine."

Alice nodded resolutely seemingly pleased. "Good, Esme and I both thought you looked more like a Bella and even Emmett seems fond of the name. Not that there's anything wrong with Marie though" she hastened to add, as if afraid of giving offence.

Bella smiled a little and it was more genuine this time. "Good, because if you had a problem with my name I was going to have to start pulling out all my Alice in Wonderland jokes."

Alice's lips quirked and her eyes sparkled. "You have Alice in Wonderland jokes ready for when you meet girls named Alice?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure I could make some up on the spot" said Bella. The banter felt easy and natural and Bella was starting to relax a bit around the overly friendly vampire.

"Hmmm," said Alice tapping her chin in mock though "I'm not sure I believe you. You might just have to give me a demonstration."

"You sure you want one?"

"I'm sure."

"Ok, but first you have to answer me one thing."

"What's that?" asked Alice eyes shining with amusement.

"Why did you drink the bottle labeled 'DRINK ME' but never ate the cake?"

It was maybe slightly more mean spirited than she wanted but Alice didn't seem to mind as she dissolved into a fit of giggles. Bella couldn't help but let out a few giggles of her own at Alice's reaction.

"Short jokes already? I thought you'd have more class than that Bella" said Alice teasingly while trying to contain her giggles.

"Well if the shoe fits. Or in your case the doll shoes I suppose."

"Ouch! Zinger. Now I have to find some obvious trait of yours to poke fun at. Physically you're very pretty so I'll have to find some personality trait to make fun of. I bet you probably snore and wear mismatched socks."

Bella's smile was full and genuine now. "Mismatched socks?"

Alice nodded sagely "It's a deep and troubling flaw but don't worry, I won't let it get in the way of our friendship. I can be benevolent in overlooking things like that, Tigger and Pooh socks aside."

Bella gave a little confused frown at that. "Tigger and Pooh?"

Alice grinned and looked down meaningfully at her ankles.

Bella looked down and lifted the hem of her jeans. Sure enough on one foot was a white sock with tiny Tiggers on it and the other was covered in tiny Winnie the Poohs in various stages of a honey induced coma.

"Oh crap" whispered Bella suddenly feeling embarrassed. How had she not noticed she was wearing mismatched socks? Well she _had_ been pretty distracted that morning.

"Don't worry" said Alice patting her arm in a grave manner "I won't tell anyone" she whispered with a mischievous smirk.

Score: Alice 1 Bella 0.

Before they could say anything else the bell rung and the teacher started speaking.

"Hello class. Today we're going to do a sketch of the human face in charcoal. Remember like we talked about yesterday this doesn't have to be an exact replica. Your goal is to draw enough traits to make the person you're drawing recognizable to others in the class. That means finding prominent features in your subject and doing your best to replicate the general feel and shape of them in charcoal. Partner up and each partner will spend half the period drawing the other" said the teacher Mrs. Pope.

"You'll be my partner?" asked Alice and Bella caught just a hint of insecurity in her voice.

Bella considered her for a moment. It would be really rude to refuse and they were supposed to be socializing with the Cullens right? Besides despite her general wariness of vampires the two of them had a pretty good banter going. After talking to her for a bit Bella was starting to find that she really did like the tiny and excitable vampire.

"Sure. Partners sounds good" said Bella and she couldn't help but feel pleased and amused at the happy look on Alice's face when she said that.

Bella suggested Alice draw first and the other woman went along with it. Alice pulled out a sketch pad and a stick of charcoal while leaning back on her chair, worrying her lip as she examined Bella's face. Despite knowing the assignment was to draw her Bella couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious at the scrutiny.

She fished for a topic of conversation "So why weren't you in this class yesterday? I know all of you guys came to school."

"Oh that's because I had it changed today. I came in early this morning to get it done" said the vampire as she started sketching on the pad.

"Wait" said Bella feeling a bit of trepidation "what do you mean you had it changed? They don't let you just change classes whenever you feel like it."

Alice gave a little smile but didn't stop her sketching. "I told you I can see the future right? It's more like I can usually see what will happen when someone makes a choice. I kept thinking of different ways to get the administration to agree to my totally unreasonable change in classes and eventually came up with a scenario that would work. A little flattery, a note to say I can't do gym class anymore plus some homemade cookies softened the ladies at the office right up. I pretty much got my pick of new classes."

Ok. That was kind of freaky. The possible ramifications of that power were mind boggling. Could you get literally anything to go your way if you just thought through enough different options beforehand? That sort of thing sounded much too good to be true. Just how much did her power actually let her see?

There was also another question that was maybe more troubling. "_Why _did you change into this class?" asked Bella fearing she already knew the answer.

"Because you're in it of course" said Alice.

The admission brought a surge of discomfort and worry to Bella. Something must have shown on her face because Alice's voice took on a softer tone.

"I'm not here to hurt you or stalk you or anything like that Bella. I just really want to get to know you. Do you remember that I can see the future? One thing I saw was the two of us being good friends. Best friends actually. I thought us having a couple of classes together could be the start of that" she said with a tender and hopeful look that seemed out of place with how long they had known each other.

Bella swallowed thickly while she thought. She didn't know how much of what Alice said she could take at face value. Was there some kind of angle here? Or was she actually telling the truth?

"So you're saying you see my future and we stay here in Forks long term?" asked Bella skeptically.

Alice made a displeased face at that. "Actually I can't really see you in my visions for some reason. Sometimes I can tell where you are or will be by a conspicuous empty space in my visions. Other times I can't see you at all or you blot out everything around you. I think you have some kind of natural shield that blocks me from seeing you in my visions and blocks Edward's telepathy. If or when you're turned you'll probably have some kind of really strong mental shield-like power."

Bella breathed an internal sigh of relief at that. It would have freaked her the hell out if Alice could see everything she was going to do in her future. Other people having that kind of knowledge about you was dangerous. Bella didn't know if she had some kind of natural protection against mental abilities but part of Bella kind of doubted it. She had spent a great deal of time and energy making sure she and Tori couldn't be tracked by magic with spellwork of her own. If she had to guess it was due to that reason the vampire's abilities didn't work on her. Then again she had no real way to know for sure.

"If you can't see me then how do you know we're supposed to be best friends?" she asked skeptically.

"I see some of my future with my best friend but in those visions she is blotted out. It's the exact thing that happens whenever I try to look into your future. Ergo I'm positive it's you."

"So you just know what's going to happen in the future and there's no way to change that?" asked Bella dubiously. She was not a believer in fate.

"Well… not exactly. If people make different choices the future can change. It has some flexibility but it's not fluid like water either. It's hard to explain" said Alice, a look of frustration crossing her face at her inability to ever properly communicate what seeing the future was like.

Well as interesting as the conversation was Bella wasn't about to take anything at face value. For all she knew Alice was completely off her rocker. She decided to file the whole conversation in a 'I'm skeptical but we'll see what happens' box in her brain.

Besides, her with friends? It's not that she didn't want it to happen. It's that she didn't see how it could. Not with constantly being on the run.

Alice must have been pretty good at reading her because she gave a little unhappy sigh and said "It's ok I can't really expect you to believe me without having seen any proof yet. I keep forgetting you don't know me yet and it makes things a little strange for me. How about we just agree to be friends and not worry about what happens next?" said Alice with once again sporting an infectious encouraging smile.

It wasn't as simple a question as it looked on the surface. For one, she was a vampire. Even being 'vegetarian' Bella still didn't really know how safe these golden eyed vampires were. For all she knew they accidentally killed a human every few months.

Still for the Cullens to attend high school their control had to be leap and bounds above that of your average human-eating vamp. It would be almost impossible to go through high school without being exposed to someone who cut themselves or skinned their knee and bled in their vicinity. They must all be confident that something like that wouldn't cause them to lose control. The Cullen vampires were _probably_ pretty safe to be around.

Did they have nefarious purposes though? It was hard to shed her some of her inborn prejudice in thinking that just because they were vampires the other shoe was going to eventually drop. Victoria had been the only vampire before the Cullens who didn't look at her like a happy meal on legs. Was it really fair of her to judge Alice based on her experiences with other vampires? So far, for vampires, all the Cullens had more or less behaved unfailingly decent and polite towards her. Was it possible that they really were just nice and weren't plotting something she wouldn't like?

In the end Bella thought back to the situation with Victoria and how terrified she was of suddenly finding herself abandoned if and when she figured out how to set Victoria free. Having someone else in her life, a friend, might make the whole thing easier. Whether she was a crackpot or not Alice did seem genuinely sincere in her belief that they would be 'best friends'.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. It was a risk but the alternative of remaining isolated seemed worse. She looked at Alice's hopeful face and offered a tentative smile in return.

"Ok. Friends" she said. Even if she was nervous it felt pretty good.

00

They got through the rest of the period chatting about small things. Bella's drawing was amateurish and frankly pretty bad since she had never really practiced drawing, or the medium, or art in general before (unless you counted magic as an art). Alice's drawing, maybe predictably, was an almost perfect replica that managed to flatter her at the same time. It was like looking at herself with all her appealing features further emphasized in a subtle way.

"Here, you keep it" said Alice handing it over.

"You know I can just look in a mirror anytime I want" said Bella sarcastically but she took the picture anyway and thanked her before putting it in a folder.

They were getting ready to leave class and Bella was feeling quite good. She didn't know about best friends but she did know that she enjoyed talking to Alice and that she was very easy to talk to. On a lot of things they were on the same wavelength even though the vampire could probably be her grandmother who knew how many times over. Bella felt she trusted Alice at least a little bit now so she decided to mention something that had been bothering her.

"Did you know Edward asked me out on a date?" said Bella a little self-consciously.

"Did he now" she said in a voice that was carefully non-committal. She didn't seem surprised.

"Yeah, I was just wondering about that and about him. Sort of was wanting your opinion on that. In a way it's kind of flattering but I don't even know what to make of it" said Bella.

Alice took a long time before answering. "Underneath it all Edward is a nice guy but he does have his flaws. He's an old fashioned kind of person so casual dating would be a little alien to him. He would most likely take you going out on a date with him as a sign of serious interest" said Alice looking at Bella in a concerned way. The younger girl wondered why Alice seemed to be picking her words so carefully.

Bella nodded. "I see" she said even though she kind of didn't. Surely Edward knew times had changed a bit since those days.

"What do _you_ think about it?" asked Alice.

Bella thought about it for a few moments before replying. "I think I'm probably going to say no. He seems like a nice guy, and he's been nothing but a gentleman to me at least, and he's very handsome but… it would probably just be messy for all sorts of reasons. On top of that I'm not really in a good place in my life to be thinking about potential relationships. Plus it would probably just piss Tori off to no end. It's kind of tempting but it seems like a bad idea right now."

Alice just nodded at that and Bella for some reason thought the vampire might have even looked relieved. Then again she might have just imagined it.

"Come on. It's lunch time."

00

By the time Bella and Alice excited the classroom the hallway was already filled with people making their way to the lunch room. Leaning against the wall across from their classroom was Victoria. One foot was pressed against the wall and her arms were folded underneath her generous bosom looking the picture of a surly and rebellious teenager. She gave her a look and Bella knew what the vampire wanted.

"Alice, why don't you go on ahead? I'll talk to you later" she said to the shorter girl besides her.

Alice looked at her and then at Victoria who regarded the smaller vampire with carefully neutral features. Victoria, or Andromeda, had always seemed cold and distant and not very friendly the couple of times Alice had met her and this time was no exception. Bella seemed to adore her though so there must be something more to the gorgeous redhead than cool receptions and formality.

"Sure. Catch you later Bella. Bye Victoria" she said. The other vampire acknowledged her with a barely visible nod before Alice flashed Bella one last smile and sauntered off in the direction of the lunch room.

Bella watched until Alice had gone a little ways before turning back to Victoria. "So, what's up?"

"Just want to talk to you for a bit. Let's go outside where we're least likely to be overheard" said Victoria. She tilted her head and motioned for the other girl to follow. Bella walked with her through the school wondering where they were going. Eventually she led them out a back door of the building. There were some wooded areas near the school and the two of them headed in that direction. Bella thought technically they were not supposed to go that far but it didn't seem like anybody noticed.

Victoria brought them to a copse of trees a little ways from the main building. It was a little isolated and the trees gave them an illusion of being secluded from the outside world. Victoria leaned against a tree and crossed her ankles casually regarding Bella curiously.

"Unless we shout even vampires shouldn't be able to hear us from all the way inside the cafeteria. It's safe to talk" Victoria said.

"Right, talk. Talk is good."

"You don't know what I want to talk about do you?"

"Nope. Unless it's about the Cullens, then yes I would happen to know then."

"Right" said Victoria. She seemed to be looking her over with a critical eye.

"How are you handling interacting with them?" asked the vampire.

Bella took a deep breath. "Good. Sort of. I mean they are _vampires_. I keep waiting for something bad to happen but they are all so nice I'm starting to feel like I'm being unreasonably paranoid."

Victoria snorted at that. "You really are young if you think people being nice to you means they have good intentions."

Bella took a moment to process that. "Are you saying you think they don't have good intentions?"

"I'm saying we don't have anything to gain by getting more involved than we have to. I get they are nice, I saw how you were chatting up the little one when you were coming out of the classroom."

Bella frowned at that. "Her name is Alice."

"Right. _Alice_. She looks like she could fit down a rabbit hole."

Bella had to smirk at that even if she was a tad annoyed. The two of them sometimes thought along similar tracks. Was Victoria's brand of humor starting to rub off on her? Heaven forbid.

"She's very nice" said Bella.

"I'm sure."

"I'm serious, she is."

"You mean she _seemed_ to be. What's your point?"

Bella huffed at that. "My point is that it's a little hard to stay hostile and suspicious when they are being so very nice. Plus that's not how people should treat each other I don't think. If you hit it off with one of them how would you deal with it?"

"I did hit it off with one of them, kind of. But I'm not going to have the same problems you seem to be starting to have."

Bella ignored the last part because she was much more curious about the first.

"Really? Who was it? What happened?" she asked with sudden excitement.

Victoria frowned at her enthusiasm on the subject. "Does it matter?"

"Well only in the sense that I'm dying to know. Who was it? Emmett was super friendly and kind of like that class clown, I bet it was him. Oh or Jasper with his gentlemanly ways, I'm sure he's great what with being Alice's mate and all" she babbled. When she got excited it made Bella look and sound years younger.

Victoria looked at her searchingly before letting out a small sigh in defeat. "Neither of those actually. I sort of, kind of, hit it off with Rosalie in a passive aggressive bitchy sort of way. Had her for two classes this morning and ended up sitting next to her in the first and partnered up in the second. In the first class she would barely look at me and I could almost feel the disdain coming off her in waves. The second class we were forced to work together and she refused to give me anything other than short clipped answers until I asked about the one thing vampires never seem to get tired of talking about; her mate."

"Oh? What did she do then?" asked Bella genuinely enthralled by the story. She hadn't interacted with Rosalie but the impression she got from her and from what little Alice had talked about her it sounded like Rosalie had written the book on being cold, unfriendly and unapproachable.

"At first she didn't want to but when I finally got her to start talking about him she relaxed and opened up a bit. We spent the whole class period talking and trading barbs," Victoria shrugged "she's kind of a bitch but I like her. You can tell there's a whole lot more going on behind that haughty ice queen mask. She's interesting."

Bella felt an unexpected stab of jealousy at hearing Victoria talk about Rosalie that way. She'd never had to share Victoria with anyone and she found she didn't particularly like the feeling that prospect brought up. If Rosalie had been single and unmated it would have probably made her a great deal more uneasy.

"But my point" continued Victoria "is that I'm not going to give her the keys to my house and I'm not going to become emotionally invested. Even if she was the most likable person I've ever met I'd still be able to walk away. Just don't lose sight that this is a temporary arrangement and that we'll probably need to be moving on sooner than we originally planned."

Bella sighed and nodded. She knew Victoria would probably want to be moving on in a month or two at the most. For now it was mostly safe but there was always the chance something could go wrong. The Cullens might tell someone about them and if word somehow reached the Volturi… well Bella wasn't eager for another tussle with the extremely dangerous vamps that worked for them. They also couldn't well ask the Cullens not to mention them to anyone else without raising all types of questions. Bella didn't like it but logically she understood the necessity of having to move. Again.

Maybe she could keep in contact with Alice by emails or over the phone or something. That might be nice.

The conversation fell into a mostly companionable silence. Now that there was a break in their talk Bella became acutely aware that they were for all intents and purposes alone and concealed from prying eyes. Her eyes looked Victoria over taking in how she made clothes that would have made anyone else look like a maladjusted teen look incredibly sexy and rebellious. She had a sudden impulse to reach out and touch Victoria's hair but held herself in check. Suddenly feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious in the presence of the vampire Bella fished around for another topic of conversation.

"Hey want to hear something funny? Edward asked me out during first period. I totally didn't see that one coming" said Bella in a lighthearted tone.

Victoria's demeanor changed immediately. Her back straightened and she narrowed her eyes on Bella. In a split second the vampire went from relaxed to extremely intimidating. Bella gawked at her sudden change in demeanor and started to wonder what she'd said wrong.

"You're not dating him," said Victoria with cool authority "In fact you're not going to be dating _anyone_. Ever. Is that clear?"

Bella gaped at Victoria like a fish out of water. That was not at all the response she had expected. Victoria seemed to loom over her even though she hadn't moved from her spot, her brown eyes suddenly piercing down to what felt like her very soul demanding that she obey.

Bella's first and most overpowering instinct was to submit. It would have felt almost natural, _right_ even, to bend her neck and give in to what Victoria wanted from her. A part of her felt the powerful need please Victoria and to give in to anything and everything the vampire might want from her. It might have alarmed her a great deal if the instinct didn't feel so completely right and natural.

And yet…

For a number of reasons Victoria's command also pissed Bella right off.

"What do you mean I can't date? If I want to date, I'm going to date. There's nothing wrong with that" Bella replied mustering up her courage.

"You're not going to date. That's final" said Victoria, unmoved.

"You can't stop me from dating. And what's the bright idea anyhow? Do you want me to be lonely and never experience anything with anyone else? I might die at any time in this life, what if I don't want to die a virgin?" she asked hotly. Uncharacteristic of her this conversation was making her very angry very quickly.

"It's not safe. Besides we're always on the move. It's not like you'll have time to build a relationship anyway" replied Victoria, trying to sound calm but her own anger started creep around the edges of her voice.

"Who said anything about a relationship? Maybe I just want to spend a little time with someone nice. Or maybe I just want somebody to fuck my brains out" she said, surprising herself with the bitterness and resentment she was showing "either way whatever I chose to do you can't stop me."

In the span of a heartbeat Victoria's eyes went from dark brown to a furious pitch black. "So that's what this is all about? You're eager to go and find some perfect stranger to rock your little world, is that it?" replied Victoria with anger and cruel condescension dripping from her voice.

"No that isn't what this is all about. I just want to be able to meet people and maybe have something special with someone even if it's just for a little while. But yes I'm a healthy teenage girl and I'd be lying if I said the prospect of sex hadn't crossed my mind" replied Bella defensively.

"So that's it? Little BB is lonely and wants some strange boy pawing at her until she gives it up to him?" Victoria said as she stepped closer, her voice full of anger and venomous mockery.

"Don't say that. It's not like that" said Bella angry and hurt by Victoria's attitude.

"I'm just repeating back what you said. I didn't know you were so eager to get on your back, spread your legs and let some stranger fuck you like a little whore."

"Well I don't see you stepping up to the plate!" shouted Bella, furious and red faced from anger and embarrassment. As soon as she realized what she had just said her face took on a mortified expression.

Victoria's lips slowly curled up into what looked less like a smile and more like a sharp knife being drawn. "Please Bella. Like I would ever touch _you_" Victoria said, her voice filled with disgust and loathing, making Bella feel like she was nothing short of repulsing to the red headed vampire.

Bella's world crumpled into a haze of hurt and pain at hearing those words. Her face fell and she looked off to the side, the sudden emotional agony clear on her features. Bella felt a lump in her throat and tears started to sting her eyes. No one had ever cut her down so thoroughly and completely with just a few words in her entire life.

_Like I would ever touch _**you**.

They stood awkwardly in silence for a moment with Bella fighting a losing battle with her tears. Eventually despite how much she wanted to hold them in tears started spilling down her face. With an angry forearm she wiped away her tears. She was angry at herself for failing to keep even her dignity in the face of what Victoria had just said.

"Bella…" began Victoria uncertainly, her voice suddenly a lot softer than before. That was all it took to suddenly break the dam. Bella turned and ran, a sob escaping her lips. She couldn't be around Victoria right now. She couldn't be around anyone. She needed to be alone. The pain in Bella's chest was overwhelming and Victoria watched, unsure of what to do, as the teenaged girl ran away from her.

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**Hope you don't hate me for that ****. Things need to get worse before they get better. Did you like it? As always more reviews mean quicker updates!**


	9. Chapter 8

**AN1: For those who don't know the extremely talented Avanwolf started writing again. That author said this story was the inspiration to pick up writing fanfiction again which completely blew me away. True story; the very first Twilight fic that I ever read was Luminescence by Avanwolf over in AO3. I'd never even read the books or watched the movies at that point but the story blew me away and got me hooked on the fandom. It's still one of my favorite fanfics I've ever read. I also have to credit that particular fic with getting the idea of the Victoria/Bella pairing in my mind and it hasn't left since. **

**If you haven't checked out any of the stories by Avanwolf you need to do it now. They are both incredibly amazing and deserve to be read by everyone. Trust me and do yourself the favor ;) **

**AN2: This is the longest chapter yet coming in at over 8k. Enjoy!**

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Bella didn't want to go back into the school where people would see her crying; her day had been mortifying enough already without the added questions and embarrassment. Instead Bella made a split second decision. Her things were already stored in her locker so she would just walk home. Or walk somewhere else as long as it was away from where she was right then. Point was she wanted to leave the school and in her distraught state doing so on foot seemed the best way to do it.

If she kept moving maybe she wouldn't have to face all of it at once.

She walked past the parking lot half expecting some teacher to yell for her to stop but no one ever did. It didn't even occur to her to take the car since it had been Victoria who had driven them to school. With a feeling like her heart had literally broken in two and red faced with tears Bella took off in the general direction of the house they were living in.

Bella walked slowly for a while in a daze, part of her mind finding refuge by trying to analyze everything that had happened. _Why_ it had happened seemed important. In some ways it was perhaps a little masochistic but Bella was the type of person who'd rather know something painful than know nothing at all. One question kept cropping up in her mind over and over again.

_Why did it hurt so damn much? _

Rejection was a new feeling for Bella. She had sort of, kind of, put herself out there for Victoria even if it had been a heated slip of the tongue. What the hell had she been thinking? Obviously she hadn't been. She'd fully been expecting Victoria would reject her as soon as she'd opened her mouth. What she hadn't expected was the way she had been cut down; Victoria had let her know in no uncertain terms exactly how she felt about her. The vampire was disgusted with her and wouldn't even contemplate dirtying herself by touching Bella. The girl could handle Victoria not being attracted to her (she thought) but the vitriol with which the redhead had cut her down had utterly crushed the sensitive Bella.

Maybe the fears she had been having the day before had already come true. Maybe she had waited too long before deciding to do something about the collar and Victoria had already grown to resent and hate her. If that was the case could Bella really blame her? It hadn't been until just recently that a conversation with the vampire had made her face up to the cruel unfairness of Victoria's situation. Sure she had always known in a way but she had allowed herself to go on in denial and blissful ignorance pretending there was nothing wrong in their own little world. Now maybe she was paying the price for letting it go for so long.

Was all of it really worth the struggle? The constant fight to survive? Bella was tired of it. She was tired of the constant fear. She was tired of being constantly on the run. She was tired of always being unsure where she stood with the only person she loved and had left in the world. Except that question had been answered hadn't it?

Victoria hated her. The only rock in her life was disgusted by her. Bella was more than a little bit disgusted with herself.

None of that would change her plans though. She still couldn't let Victoria just die whenever she did. Bella would start researching a way to remove the collar safely the very next day. Then Victoria would leave. Or maybe the vampire would kill her first before she left. At that moment the idea didn't sound so bad. Bella would rather be killed by Victoria than by whatever stooge of the Volturi eventually caught up with her. Then she wouldn't have to face the aftermath of the vampire leaving.

It wasn't like she had much to live for. The life she had wasn't much of a life. Why should she keep running when sooner or later the Volturi would eventually catch up to her anyway?

Drowning in her increasingly depressing thoughts Bella failed to notice when it began to rain. The girl wandered aimlessly, turning down one road and then the other without really noticing or caring where she was going. Her life was a stressful and danger filled one and suddenly feeling like one of the few safety nets she had was tenuous at best was allowing many of her fears and insecurities climb their way from the recesses of her mind and assault her full force. The litany of everything she had lost and suffered in her short life suddenly became a mantra as Bella felt herself fall further into a hole of self-pity and doubt.

Bella didn't even notice as a silver Volvo pulled up next to her. It followed her for almost half a block before the occupant rolled down the window and called out to her.

Bella turned and looked blearily at hearing someone call her name. She stared for a few moments without comprehension before she gathered her wits and her brain started working well enough to respond.

"Alice?" she asked sounding incredulous. The tiny vampire was looking at her with a look of concern and sorrow clearly etched on her face. Alice took an unnecessary breath before speaking in a concerned tone.

"I don't remember much about being human but I do remember it's supposed to be really bad to be out walking in the cold rain. Get in the car Bella. I'll give you a ride home or wherever you want to go" she said and the obvious caring in her voice almost made Bella burst out into fresh tears.

Bella hesitated and shuffled a little, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm not supposed to be alone with vampires" she protested weakly not looking Alice in the eye.

Alice gave her an incredulous look. "You're alone with a vampire all the time" she said slowly.

"I know I mean, it could be dangerous…" Bella rambled, knowing she wasn't making a lot of sense. Alice's concerned face came back.

"Look Bella, if I was a vampire who wanted to hurt you it would be the easiest thing in the world to snatch you up off a deserted street in the middle of a downpour. If I wanted to hurt you I would have done so already. I just want to help. Now please Bella will you get in the car?" asked Alice pleadingly. It was clear from Bella's face her resolve was starting to crack.

"I don't want to get your seats wet" protested Bella one more time.

"I have some towels here. And even if you ruined the whole car it would be worth it. Now come on get in already before you get sick."

Bella hesitated a moment longer. Looking around she realized she had no idea where she had ended up. It was also pouring rain and she was just starting to notice just how cold she really was. Her fingers felt numb and she was starting to shiver. Reluctantly she went to the passenger side and got in the car with Alice.

The little vampire looked relieved when Bella sat down and closed the passenger door behind her. Noticing that Bella was shivering she turned up the heat in the car as high as it would go and set it to full blast. Alice reached in the back seat and handed the wet girl two thick towels. Bella wondered why a vampire would keep towels in the backseat but didn't ask.

"Thanks," Bella murmured, doing the best she could to dry herself off.

"Well I wasn't just going to leave you out there in the pouring rain all by yourself," she said in a chiding tone as if it should have been self-evident.

They sat in silence for a few moments as Alice pulled the car away from the curve. Bella did her best to dry her hair and the car's impressive hot air conditioning was already starting to take some of the chill from her bones.

"So-" began Bella sounding unsure, "were you just driving by or…?"

"Or did I have a vision of you looking like a soaked rat in the rain? Nothing so dramatic. We saw you through the cafeteria windows leaving the school on foot. When it became clear you weren't coming back several of us wanted to leave and look for you but in the end I kind of insisted it should be me. I _am_ going to be your best friend you know," she said with a teasing smile.

"And you just went out driving around looking for me?" asked Bella sounding incredulous.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? If I'd had some other way of finding you easier I would have done that instead but you have to make due with what you got," she replied saucily.

Bella was quiet for a long moment. "Thanks" she murmured.

"Well," began Alice in a softer tone "you were looking mighty upset when you left. I knew it was going to rain and I thought maybe you could use somebody to talk to. That's the sort of thing friends do right?" she said sounding a little unsure, as if she wasn't _really_ sure what it was that friends were supposed to do.

Bella gave Alice a little smile. "Yeah. I think most people would say that qualifies as something a good friend would do."

Alice's smile was radiant. "Well I'm glad I did it then."

They were quiet for a little while after that, Alice driving in random directions and the both of them lost in their own thoughts. For Alice knowing the right thing to say was a little bit of challenge. She usually always knew what results she would get ahead of time but with Bella she was in the dark. Eventually the short haired vampire ventured to ask what was on her mind.

"So what happened?" she asked.

Bella let out a breath. "Not sure I wanna talk about it."

"Does it have something to do with a certain red headed vampire?" asked Alice cautiously.

Bella let out a little huff of what might have been laugher. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Kinda, yeah. You went off to talk to her and next thing you're walking off the campus in tears. It wasn't hard to piece two and two together."

"Oh God," said Bella feeling mortified "did everyone see that? I didn't even realize I walked right past the cafeteria windows."

"You were a bit far so only us vampires really got a good look at you. Emmett got really upset. Edward seemed torn between wanting to go after you and wanting to go find Andromeda. Luckily we eventually got him to do neither. He's a nice guy but he's too much of a hothead."

"They really got upset?" Bella asked, her tone disbelieving.

"Yes really. Emmett took a real shining to you when he met you, I think the fact you were willing to joke with him even though you were really uncomfortable kind of endeared you to him. As for Edward well… he did ask you out. It's probably safe to assume he likes you based on that," said Alice a little reluctantly.

Bella made a little thoughtful noise at that, part of her disbelieving that these people she had just barely met gave two figs about her. Still, somehow, hearing that they did managed to make her feel just a tiny bit better. She looked at the small vampire next to her. Bella still didn't really know why Alice cared at all about her but she was grateful for it. Who knew where she would have ended up wandering around in the rain?

"I don't think I was thinking very clearly when I stormed off," admitted Bella reluctantly.

"Pretty sure that's a young human's prerogative. It's much the same with newborns. Too many hormones and not enough thinking at times. If your heart is in the right place that's all that really matters."

"Not with me. I can't afford to just let my emotions make me do something stupid," said Bella.

"Why not?" asked Alice, a little surprised by the statement.

That's when Bella realized that maybe she'd said too much. Her current state wasn't making it easy to keep her guard up and keep what she was supposed to be saying and not saying straight. She couldn't tell Alice that acting stupid could draw attention to herself and get her killed. Not that she thought she would fight all that hard to defend herself at that very moment.

"I just can't. It's complicated" she said, too emotionally drained to try and come up with any convincing lie.

Alice didn't look too convinced or happy but let it go. They drove around in silence for a few more minutes before the vampire spoke again.

"So you're really not going to tell me what the fight was about?" asked Alice.

Bella thought about it. There was no way she was going to tell Alice the whole story. She would have to reveal things she wasn't willing to right then and the whole thing had been far too humiliating for her to want to talk about. Bella liked Alice, was beginning to like her a great deal actually, but if she opened up that can of worms it would make all the Cullens more curious and that was the last thing she needed.

Still, Bella strangely found that she _did_ want to talk about it even if it was in vague and general terms. She thought carefully about what she would say before she began.

"Our relationship has always been a complicated one. I thought maybe there was something there that wasn't. Things got heated between us and things got ugly and hurtful. I think she almost killed me with what she said" said Bella with far more candor than she had planned. She sniffled as moisture threatened to gather in her eyes again.

Alice's face was so sympathetic and somehow that made Bella feel better and worse at the same time. The vampire gave her a long searching look before her face turned resolute.

"We need to get you some dry clothes and you need someone to talk to. I'm taking you to my house."

Bella visibly paled at that. As comfortable as Bella was starting to feel with at least one of the Cullens she wasn't ready to be in a house full of them.

Alice must have correctly interpreted the distress on her face because she continued in a more placating tone. "Don't worry no one will be at the house except for Esme. She's the kindest and most harmless out of all of us and I really think you should talk to her."

"Why?" asked Bella genuinely bewildered.

"Esme just… always knows what to say. I guess you could say she's sort of like the family therapist. I don't think I can do much to make you feel better if you can't or won't talk about what's going on but Esme can. She can help you make sense of whatever is going on and I guarantee you it will help. Please just trust me? I really hate seeing you like this and not being able to do anything about it" said Alice looking at her with big pleading soulful eyes. She seemed genuinely distressed that she couldn't do anything to help Bella with her current emotional crisis.

Bella hesitated but she only lasted so long under Alice's wide eyed look. She was far too emotionally drained and exhausted to put up much of a fight. Part of her knew Tori would not be happy but she pushed that though painfully to the side. Bella didn't feel like being too concerned about what Victoria would and would not want her to do right then and there.

The human girl slumped in her seat and closed her eyes. "Ok Alice. Let's go to your house."

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Esme took one look at Bella before rushing over and enveloping the girl in a hug. Bella went stiff as a board at the unexpected contact.

If Esme noticed her reaction she completely ignored it.

The Cullen matriarch pulled back but kept her hands on Bella looking her over with concerned eyes. "Dear you're soaking wet and you look like you're freezing! We need to find something for you to change in to."

Bella swallowed and shifted, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of motherly concern being shown. "I'm fine" she argued half-heartedly though in truth she wasn't. As soon as she had stepped out of the pleasantly warm car she'd started to feel deathly cold. Esme however would have none of her excuses.

She grabbed Bella's hand and started leading her gently up the stairs. "I think you're about my size. How about I set out some clothes for you and you can take a hot shower? Then I should make you something hot. Do you like tea?" she asked, her voice full of sincerity and concern.

Bella could only nod absently overwhelmed by this near total stranger mothering her and treating her like she was one of her own. She glanced back behind her where Alice was trailing behind them. The petite vampire gave her a reassuring smile and a little shrug of her shoulders which Bella took to mean this was par for the course with Esme. Too overwhelmed by her day to argue Bella allowed herself to be led and decided to just accept whatever came next.

Esme ushered her into a bathroom on the second floor and reached into a cabinet to get her a thick luxurious towel. She handed it to her with a tenderness that should not have existed in something as simple as handing another human being a towel. For a moment Bella was overwhelmed by memories of her own deceased mother.

"Go on and take a hot shower. I'll go find you something to wear and leave it in here for you. Then when you're ready come downstairs and we can have a little tea, ok?" said Esme gently.

Bella just nodded as she hugged the towel to herself. Alice who was standing behind Esme just gave her a little mouthed _see you in a bit_. Both the vampires left and closed the door behind them leaving Bella alone in the strange bathroom.

The house was warmer than outside but it wasn't exactly balmy either. Bella quickly got out of her wet clothes and got in the shower putting the hot water as high as she could stand it. It didn't take long for her to feel like she was beginning to thaw and it occurred to her that fall in Washington wasn't a place to go about soaking wet outside.

Bella closed her eyes and propped herself up against the wall of the shower with her eyes closed. What was she even doing there? Part of her screamed she was being unbelievably stupid being in that house all by herself. She still had her rings and bracelets but no wand, no coat and no Victoria. She could defend herself but didn't like her odds. On the bright side if the vampires let her leave without a fuss maybe that meant they really were as nice as they appeared.

Bella heard the door open and Esme's voice spoke. "I hope what I picked out is ok. Just something warm and comfortable. Alice mentioned you might want to talk. Take your time and I'll be downstairs. Call if you need anything and I'll be able to hear you."

The girl nodded in the shower before she realized Esme couldn't see her. "Thanks" she said feeling a little awkward having the other woman in the bathroom while she was in the shower. Bella didn't relax until she heard the door close.

She didn't linger too long, cleaning herself with a mango scented body wash and deciding to worry about her hair when she got home. Stepping out of the shower she saw that Esme has laid out a thick comfortable pair of sweat pants along with a simple shirt, socks and a sweater. They all looked very expensive and she felt a little awkward putting them on since she had never wanted or bothered with anything nicer than could be found in a department store. She noticed her wet clothes were gone. It seemed that Esme's household mother hen routine was no joke. She wouldn't be surprised if her clothes were washed and dried before she left.

As nice as it was it mostly made her nostalgic for a time when she did have a home and family of her own.

Bella hesitantly made her way downstairs half afraid someone would jump out of the shadows and demand to know what she was doing in their house. No one appeared however, out of the shadows or otherwise, and when she reached downstairs she found Esme seated in a small breakfast table reading a magazine. As soon as she came in sight Esme put down the magazine and motioned for her to come over.

"Please sit. I made us some tea and I'm also told human American girls like to eat ice cream when something is troubling them. I set some out just in case you wanted any."

Indeed there was a pot of tea on the table and two pints of some fancy brand of ice cream, one vanilla and one chocolate. It seemed no one had told Esme that tea and ice cream went horribly together but it was such a sweet gesture she couldn't bring herself to turn it down. Quietly she scooped half a scoop of each flavor into the bowl in front of her and went about mashing the two flavors together. She always liked her ice cream to be more cream and less ice.

She noticed Esme was actually sipping tea and felt compelled to ask her about it. "You drink tea?" she asked curiously. Vampires generally abstained from anything except blood. Well Victoria drank alcohol sometimes but she didn't know how normal that was amongst their kind.

"Occasionally. It wasn't really pleasant at first but I found myself in a situation where it would have been suspicious if I didn't drink tea with a group of chatty socialite women. Eventually the taste kind of grew on me. No one else in my family will touch it though. Do you like tea?"

"I do" Bella replied. While she didn't always go out of her way to make it she did like it. It was her substitute for coffee as she normally she couldn't stand the stuff without gobs of cream and sugar. Just to be polite she sipped the steaming cup of tea in front of her. She had no idea if it tasted good or not since the flavor all went to hell when mixed with the ice cream she had just been eating.

"It's good," said Bella with a small smile. She was pretty sure it was good. It smelled expensive and good at any rate.

"I'm glad," said Esme with an indulgent smile "do you want anything else to eat? We have a fully stocked pantry full of things. We need to buy all sorts of groceries on a regular basis as to not arouse any suspicion so we have plenty in case you're hungry."

Bella shook her head. As she spooned more ice cream into her mouth she looked around and noticed something was missing.

"Where's Alice?" Bella asked.

"She left to give us a bit of privacy. You remember what my ability is don't you Bella?" asked Esme as she sipped from her cup.

"I remember. Look into the hearts and souls of others right?" asked Bella. She was starting to relax around Esme, the ice cream she was eating doing more to put her at ease than she would have thought possible. It was kind of hard to imagine yourself in danger when people were feeding you ice cream.

Esme nodded. "I like to think of my gift as understanding people. Things like their loves, desires, motivations and what's truly important to them. It gives me something of a unique perspective that is hard for me to explain to other people. One of the things it does help me do though is help people work through their problems and difficulties. It's a side effect of my gift but one I find to be nearly priceless."

Bella took a moment to digest that. "So you want to help me then?"

"Yes. Very much."

"How? And also why?" asked Bella bewildered.

Esme just shrugged. "You are very beautiful on the inside Bella and that alone makes me want to help you. I think it's also in my nature to try to help people when I can. As a vampire there are only so many people I can offer any kind of help directly. Trust me I may be doing something nice for you but you're also doing something rather nice for me by allowing me to help."

Bella was just the tiniest bit annoyed that Esme assumed she would take her up on her offer but she let go of that feeling almost as soon as it cropped up. If Esme thought she could help, what did she have to lose? Bella was aware enough to realize she was in a bad emotional place right now and would probably end up doing something stupid without a little perspective. Not to mention she felt like death warmed over. Maybe Esme and her magical vampire shrink powers were something she needed.

"Alice probably told you but I'm not really comfortable talking about what happened," said Bella hoping that wasn't some kind of deal breaker.

"That's fine," said Esme with a smile "you don't have to talk about what happened. You just have to talk about how you feel."

"Ok," said Bella putting her spoon down in her now empty bowl "so, um how do we do this?" she asked a little nervously.

"Well now we talk. Would it be ok if I started out asking you a few things?"

"Sure I guess."

"Can you tell me how you're feeling right now about the disagreement you had?"

Disagreement? That was a sanitized way of putting it. Bella sighed sadly. "Ugh, lost. Heartbroken. Afraid. Wounded. Disappointed. Angry and resentful. And probably about fifty other things I can't find words for right now."

Esme hummed in understanding. "Why was it so bad this time? Surely the two of you have had fights before."

Bella let out a deep sigh. "I accidentally let something slip that made me feel very vulnerable. Then she responded to that in the most cruel and painful way I can imagine" Bella shook her head. "Thing is I don't think she was lying to hurt me. I think she was telling the truth and that just makes it a hundred times worse."

Esme was quiet for a minute and sipped a bit of tea before she spoke. "What was your emotional state when these things were said? The both of you?"

"I don't know. We were both angry I guess, arguing really heatedly. It was pretty bad to be honest."

"So heated you said something you didn't quite want to say?"

"Well, yeah."

"Have you always made the best decisions when you're upset?"

"No."

"In the same vein I'd wager the same is true for Andromeda. Bella you can't take to heart things said in anger. People very often say things they don't really mean when they're upset."

Bella wasn't convinced. "Maybe she wouldn't have said what she did unless she was angry but she did mean what she said. I'm sure of it," said the girl wilting in her seat.

"How do you know?"

"What?"

"How do you know for sure that she really meant what she said? You said she was cruel on purpose. How do you know she didn't make up what she said to deliberately hurt you?"

Bella was quiet at that. "I-I don't know."

"Don't you think that's maybe a possibility?"

"Ugh, I guess so. Maybe." She said but didn't sound entirely convinced.

Esme regarded her for a long moment. She put down her cup of tea and her tone shifted from sympathetic and maternal to a slightly more lecturing tone.

"The human mind is a funny thing, riddled with habits and tendencies that often seem to have no basis in logic or reason. It is often all about emotion and emotion can be both our greatest friend and source of pleasure and our worst enemy. One of the more interesting tendencies people have is that they are often quick and eager to believe something they are afraid of is true. When someone is afraid they are being lied to they often start to see liars and deception around every corner. If someone is afraid of being betrayed something innocuous can turn into definite proof that someone is out to get them. For many it is a natural tendency to believe all our worst fears will come to pass."

Bella absorbed all this with a little frown. "Why are you trying to convince me of this? You didn't hear what was said. You don't know."

"I'm trying to convince you that the hurtful things said in a moment of anger do not necessarily represent someone's 'real feelings' that they have been hiding from you. That's just your fear talking. You won't really know how she feels for sure until you ask her again once she's calmed down. You can see the sense in that can't you?" asked Esme kindly.

Bella looked down and nodded. What Esme said made sense even if her first impulse was still to think the worst and go down a pit of despair.

The elder vampire reached out and took hold of Bella's hand surprising the other girl. She locked eyes with Bella and the witch found herself entranced in those kindly yellow orbs.

"I've seen inside the both of you" said Esme, her voice taking on a quiet and gentle authority that could not be doubted "and I can put your mind at ease by telling you this; whatever was said, whatever was done Andromeda doesn't hate you. She may be conflicted or confused about her feelings for you but she could never truly hate you. Be patient with her. Her life has been a lot harder then you know."

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It wasn't much longer after that when Alice came back. She must have seen something she liked because she was all smiles when she came up to where Esme and Bella were still sitting.

"It went well?" she asked enthusiastically looking back and forth between them.

"I think so" said Bella a little self-consciously. And she wasn't lying. While she wasn't nearly up to a hundred percent she was no longer teetering on the edge where death sounded like a reasonable option. Bella still felt awful but she was going to listen to Esme's advice. She needed to sit down and have a talk with Victoria when neither of them was riding high on charged emotions.

There weren't words to describe how much she wasn't looking forward to that but it really was something that needed to happen.

"Everyone should be getting home soon. We should get going if you don't want to get swamped by everyone," said Alice.

She was glad Alice was thinking of these things. There was no way she could handle dealing with a crowd of vampires right then. "Ok. Yeah let's get going," she said giving Alice a little grateful smile.

Bella stood and Esme stood with her. The elder vampire walked them to the door. Bella turned to say goodbye and found herself wrapped up in another hug. This time Bella only tensed for a few brief seconds before she relaxed into the embrace.

"Thank you Esme. For everything. I mean it," said Bella, her voice sincere and heartfelt.

"You're welcome dear. Anytime you want to talk my door is open" said Esme. She pulled back from and looked with concerned and affectionate eyes. "Just one last piece of advice if you don't mind" said Esme "don't let your issues with Andromeda consume you. Find something else to do, something just for yourself. It would be good for you and eventually good for your relationship as well."

Bella took a deep breath. "Maybe I'll do that" she said sincerely. With one last grateful smile Bella turned and followed Alice out the door.

The drive out of the property was quiet, Alice sensing that Bella needed time to process and sort everything out. Before long though the pixie vampire had to break the silence.

"So um, where do you live?" asked Alice.

Bella looked over with some surprise. "Tori thought for sure you guys would have tracked down where we were staying the very first day."

Alice looked a little guilty at that. "Well Jasper did but I only know the general area. I'm not sure exactly which house it is."

Bella gave her directions. It didn't take long in tiny Forks for them to arrive at their destination. To Bella's sudden dread their car was in the driveway. Victoria was home.

"Here," said Alice holding out her hand "give me your phone."

Bella gave her a questioning look but did as she asked. Alice proceeded to input a lot of things at vampire speed for almost a minute.

"There, now you have my number and contact information along with that of my whole family. If you need to get away for a while just call me and I'll come get you. We can hang out or something. Ok?"

Bella felt a lump in her throat. "Thanks Alice. You really are pretty good at this friend thing."

Her answering smile was like the sun coming out. "Well I try. Good luck. I'll see you soon."

Bella surprised the vampire by reaching over and giving her a quick hug before letting go almost as fast. Feeling a little awkward at her spontaneous show of affection Bella quickly got out of the car. With one last wave Alice drove off leaving Bella alone in front of the house she was staying in.

The teenager faced the door and took a deep breath. Time to face the music.

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Bella expected Victoria to be mad when she walked through the door. She had disappeared in the middle of the day, been hanging out with some of the Cullens alone when she'd been told not to and had turned her phone off as soon as she had left the school. Visions of anger and broken furniture filled the teen's mind.

Instead she found Victoria sitting on the couch in the living room watching television, a rare thing for her. Her red eyes slid towards Bella as the girl closed the door and stood by it awkwardly, fully expecting a dressing down and mentally preparing herself to give back just as good if she had to.

Instead of anger Victoria's face showed concern and worry. She deliberately scented the air and a small frown crossed her brow.

"Alice and Esme?" she asked calmly. How calmly she seemed to be taking this was throwing Bella off balance.

"Yeah," she replied cautiously as if she were talking to a wild animal.

"You were at their house" said Victoria calmly yet again, though there was a hint of accusation in her voice.

"That's right" said Bella, feeling that she had done something wrong but unwilling to apologize for it at the same time.

Victoria studied her for a long moment making Bella fidget nervously in place. A sudden look of pain crossed Victoria's features and for the life of her Bella couldn't figure out what it was for. As soon as the look came it was gone again replaced by her familiar impassive mask.

"Just don't do it again," was all she said before turning back to the television and seemingly ignoring Bella.

Bella was confused but unwilling to push her luck. Even though there were extenuating circumstances she knew what she had done had been irresponsible. She quickly walked past the couch and headed to her room.

"Bella" Victoria's voice called out to her from behind as she was halfway to her room. Bella froze and waited for her to continue.

Victoria seemed to struggle with her words before she finally spoke. "You know getting too close to them can't end well right? We'll have to move soon but even that isn't the biggest problem. If the Volturi find out the Cullens know you they will most likely demand that they hand you over to them. No matter how much they might like you they won't risk the Volturi destroying their whole family for your sake. There are reasons I was trying to warn you not to get too close."

Bella clenched her fists fingernails digging painfully into her hands. She hadn't thought about that but it was obviously true. It hurt. Until that moment she hadn't realized how quickly she had become attached to Alice and Esme both, Alice who wanted to be her best friend and Esme who felt something like a surrogate mother.

But they would never put their family in danger for her. How could she expect them to? She wouldn't want anyone doing that for her. Bella would feel terrible if anyone did.

"Just don't get any closer to them than you have to" said Victoria in an uncharacteristically gentle tone. "I-… I don't want to see you getting hurt" she said, and it sounded like the admission cost her something.

Bella however only heard the words. She whirled on Victoria, looking incredulous. "Well it's a little bit late for _that_ isn't it?" she spat putting all her anger and frustrations into the words. Without waiting for a response she stormed off into her room slamming the door behind her.

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In her room Bella fumed. In her own head she ranted and raved. She even cried some more for good measure. Since arriving in Forks everything had been so intense it was overwhelming. Bella needed to take some time by herself to make sense of it all so she didn't feel like she was going crazy.

Once she had been alone Bella had gotten irrationally furious that Victoria had just acted like nothing at all had happened between them when she got home. Like she hadn't just humiliated her and crushed her and made her run off in tears earlier that day. An apology would have been nice even though she couldn't remember the last time she heard Victoria apologize for anything. Or at least… something. Anything. Some acknowledgement of what had happened would have been nice.

She was also reeling from the realization that none of the Cullens could ever truly be people she could care about unconditionally and rely upon. It was a heavy blow and one she honestly should have seen coming. It was so obvious, why hadn't she realized it before she'd started getting attached? She had been warned but she hadn't listened.

It was all too much and Bella realized with dread that nothing would be resolved if she didn't follow Esme's advice and sit down and have a very uncomfortable conversation with Victoria. Bella knew she needed to do it. She just wasn't going to do it right in that moment. Or maybe even that week. The prospect was just too daunting. Hadn't Victoria crushed her enough already? Because she was sure that would be the outcome of their talk.

At some point in the evening she heard the front door closed and knew that Victoria had left for a while. Part of her sagged in relief that she was out. Normally it brought a sense of comfort and security to know that Victoria was in the house with her but that day it seemed to be just the opposite. Now that Victoria was gone she could maybe do something she had been thinking about.

Esme's other piece of advice had been to do something for herself and not dwell on the situation with Victoria. She was also upset with Victoria and didn't feel like following all her rules. Bella wanted to do something different. She wanted to do something fun. Bella was a little nervous about what she was going to do but resolved to do it anyway. With that in mind she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?" came the voice from the other side.

"Edward? Hi it's Bella. Listen did you still want to go out and do something?"

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Bella had insisted they go out the very next day, Thursday instead of Friday. Edward probably thought she was just eager to go out with him and she didn't correct him. The truth was that as soon as she had agreed to the date over the phone a ball of dread had started building in her stomach. Tori was not going to take it well. Maybe she should have thought it through a little more before agreeing to go on the date. She didn't think she could have lasted an extra day with the building anxiety inside her.

The next day at school was something of a blur and she and Victoria didn't say more than two words to each other. Edward seemed very enthused about their upcoming date during first period and Bella smiled and said she felt the same even though she was already having second thoughts. It had been an impulsive decision to agree to the date but she felt it was too late to back out now.

Alice didn't say anything about the date even though Bella was almost a hundred percent sure she knew. She didn't know if it was Alice's intuition or her visions that let her know Bella didn't want to talk about it but either way she was grateful. However the concerned looks she caught Alice occasionally sending her way didn't do a great deal to put her mind at ease.

When she got home it was a few hours before Edward was supposed to pick her up at six. Bella took her time to shower, put on some light makeup and dressed casually. She wasn't sure what message she wanted to send so she just settled on jeans and a nice top. After some debate she decided to put on her enchanted leather jacket. It was something of a security blanket and she already felt jittery enough about the upcoming date. After some further debate she decided to leave her wand at home. If Edward saw it it would be hard to explain and she wasn't exactly helpless without it. It just meant she would have less flexibility with her magic.

A few minutes before six Edward texted that he was waiting outside. With a deep breath Bella texted him that she'd be out in just a few minutes. Running her fingers through her hair and gathering up her courage and stepped out of her room.

As she neared the front door she didn't see Victoria anywhere. Maybe she could sneak out without the vampire finding out?

"You can't go out." Came the familiar voice behind her.

Well so much for that idea.

"What?" asked Bella. She was already getting her hackles up. If Victoria didn't care for her then she couldn't tell her what she could and couldn't do.

"Wherever you're going you can't go. It's dangerous." Victoria said simply.

Bella whirled to face the vampire. "How did you find out I was going out with Edward?"

A look of genuine surprise crossed Victoria's features. "You're going out with _Edward_? I thought you'd be meeting Alice for girl time or something stupid like that."

Bella crossed her arms in front of her. "Well I'm not. I'm going out with Edward. On a date. And like I told you yesterday you can't stop me from dating whoever I want."

Victoria's fingers curled into claws. "You stupid, infuriating girl…" she hissed out "I just told you you can't go. _It's dangerous_."

"You always think everything is dangerous. The Cullens are nice people."

"I don't mean it like that Bella. I mean it the other way. I'm the one who can sense if we're walking into something dangerous remember? Wherever you're going right now could get you killed. _You're. Not. Going,_" said Victoria punctuating her statement by stepping directly into Bella's personal space.

At any other time Bella would have listened to Victoria's warnings without questions. Her powers had saved them and kept them one step ahead of danger countless times before after all and Bella knew that. This time however Bella still wasn't thinking entirely rationally given what had happened the day before. Instead of heeding Victoria's warning she chose to look at it in the worst possible light.

"So this is what it's come down to? You're trying to manipulate me into not dating like you want me to by saying _my life is in danger?_ Well excuse me if I don't believe you. It seems mighty _convenient _that I'm suddenly in danger. If I'm so disgusting to you why are you trying so hard from keeping me from going on a date with somebody else?" replied Bella hotly.

Victoria's eyes widened in surprise at her answer before they narrowed on her, her eyes going from cherry red to the color of dark blood. "I know we have some issues to resolve right now but I never kid around when it comes to your safety. Grow up. This is more than about you having a stupid infatuation with that mentally deficient pretty boy animal drinking _child_."

Bella however was unmoved. "Is that all you have to say? Well screw you Victoria. I don't believe you, and even if it's true I can take care of myself. Goodbye. I'm late for my _date_." With that Bella turned and stalked towards the door.

Bella got two steps before she felt a hand grab her arm. She cried out in surprise as Victoria flung her none too gently towards the couch. The girl hit the back of her legs on the couch and ended up sitting down heavily. When she looked up she found Victoria looming over her, her eyes threatening to change from red to black. Bella just gaped at the redhead for a few moments. Victoria had _never_ manhandled her unless it was a life or death situation.

"Stop being an obstinate ass. If I have to keep you here by force all night then that's what I'm going to do. I am _not _letting you walk out that door," she said, her voice getting deeper and more gravelly as her emotions rose.

Bella swallowed, suddenly feeling intimidated. "You've never pushed me around before," she said, sounding young and a little wounded.

"I've never had to before. You usually just do what you're told."

Something about that statement rubbed Bella the wrong way. "Maybe I don't just want to do what I'm told."

"That's just too bad. I'm still not letting you leave. You're obviously too emotional to properly look after yourself right now."

"And who gets to decide when I get to make my own decisions? You?"

"Do you see anyone else around? But we're getting a little bit off topic. Pull out your phone and tell Edward you won't be going out with him. Now."

Bella pulled out her phone almost without thinking about it, that's how used she was to following Victoria's instructions when she got that tone. She was going to dial Edward's number when she hesitated. Was she really doing this just because Victoria told her to?

No. If Victoria was going to be out of her life eventually she needed to start feeling more independent. She couldn't continue to just let Victoria make all the decisions like she had in the past. Agreeing with Victoria right then felt too much like giving up and going back into her old routine. If Victoria truly despised her that wasn't something she could bear to do.

Resolve filled Bella's eyes. If she was going to go on that date there was only one way she was going to be able to walk out that door.

"Step back please," she said quietly lacing a tiny bit of magic into her voice.

Victoria roared at her, a loud and menacing sound that made Bella tense up in instinctive fright. Her eyes turned pitch black and her fangs dropped as she stared hatefully at the girl. Still Victoria was powerless to resist the magic of the collar. With slow hesitant steps the vampire stepped backwards giving Bella some room.

As Bella stood up she avoided meeting Victoria's gaze. She felt guilty for doing this but she wasn't about to be bullied into not going on this date by Victoria.

When Bella looked up the vampire was looking at her with eyes so angry and hateful the girl wanted to run and hide on the opposite side of the house. Before she could speak Victoria beat her to it.

"You retarded, useless, incompetent meat bag. You're going to get yourself killed. If I could I'd kill you myself for doing something this stupid. Maybe it would be better if you did die and put us both out of our misery." She spat her words and they were heavy with scorn, anger and loathing. Despite their problems the words still hurt Bella deeply.

Bella took a deep shaky breath. She would not start crying right then and there.

"Stay at least five miles away from me while I'm out on my date. Don't bother me while I'm on my date." She hesitated before adding "I'll see you later."

Victoria said nothing but just stood, seething, unable to do anything about it. Feeling the heavy weight of guilt in her chest Bella left to go on her date.

She just hoped that Port Angeles and Edward would let her forget about what a mess her life had become for a few hours.

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"_It's finally finished father." _

"_Did you get them all?" _

"_Yes the detection grids are up in all the big cities on my list. Kent, Yakima, Renton, Port Angeles-" _

"_Yeah yeah you don't have to do through the whole list. Well I suppose all we have to do now is wait." _

"_You sure the girl will show up?" _

"_If your information was good. Sacrificing a witch would have been quite the waste if the information turns out to be a dud. Still it's worth the risk for the amount of money that's on the line." _

"_And after she shows up?" _

"_We load up the buses with the boys and go hunting. She's young but supposedly very powerful. This is gonna be loads of fun." _

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**Dun dun dun! I really hoped you liked it. Next chapter the **** really hits the fan. Like always more reviews mean faster updates :)**


	10. Chapter 9

**AN1: Quick update this time. It's been less than a week and I think that's some sort of record for me. I was just excited to write this chapter. Hope you enjoy it. **

**AN2: I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed and keeps on reviewing. You guys just make writing much more fun. This one if for you :)**

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Bella barely spared Edward a glance as she got in the car with him, her mind still on the confrontation she'd just had inside the house. She was supposed to be doing something different, something fun, but already it felt like everything was going wrong. Guilt ate away at her. To say that Tori hated being compelled by the collar was the understatement of the century.

In a spur of the moment decision Bella had probably just made things even worse between them. She hated to admit it but she had no idea what the hell she was doing when it came to her relationship with Victoria.

"Hi Bella. You look great," said Edward. His voice snapped her out of her reverie. Right, she was still supposed to be going out on a date with him. With effort she turned to him and gave him the best smile she could, which to her felt a little underwhelming.

"Thanks. You look pretty nice yourself," said Bella, and he did. He wore designer jeans and a button down shirt both which might as well have been tailored for him. Edward smiled at her with a look that could only be described as adoring. It was somewhat odd given that they'd only ever had a few conversations but Bella pushed her instinctive uneasiness aside. There were worse things in the world than having a good looking guy look at you that way.

Edward put the car in drive and pulled away from the house. Bella wondered what Victoria would do while she was out. She wondered if Victoria would feel the need to go out and kill someone because of how angry Bella had made her.

"Thanks for this Edward. I really needed to just get away for a few hours," she said, settling into her seat for the hour long car ride to Port Angeles.

"It's my pleasure. Almost since first meeting you I knew we would be going out together," he said sounding for all the world like he was serious. Bella had to smile in amusement.

"My, that's certainly very cocky of you Sir Cullen," Bella said cheekily "for all you knew I only went out with guys with black hair. Or people with red eyes."

Edward didn't seem too pleased by her reply, but then he smiled mysteriously at her. "Well if something's meant to be, then it's meant to be," he said.

Bella didn't know what to make of that statement or how to respond to it so she just smiled politely at him feeling a little confused. Whatever he saw in her he seemed satisfied as he then turned and focused his attention on the road.

"I've got the evening planned out for us. Nothing too fancy but I think you'll like it," he said changing topics.

"Sure. I'm game for anything," she replied.

To get her mind off a certain redhead she figured she might as well start getting to know Edward. Besides they had a long drive ahead of them. It occurred to her then that she knew very little about the Cullen seated next to her.

"So what sorts of things do you like to do in your spare time?" she began.

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Sooraya Taylor was an exotic beauty; her mother had been a native of Pakistan and her father was an Englishman. She mostly took after her mother in looks but had inherited her heterochromia from her father. Her left eye was an icy blue and her right was a startling emerald green. Sooraya's large eyes naturally drew attention to the almost alien beauty they possessed set as they were against the dark skin of her mother's people. The twenty two year old had always drawn people's eyes even before she hit puberty. Even as a child her looks had been as rare as a long winter's day.

There was also something else that was different about Sooraya. She was a witch and an extremely talented one for her age.

Her father had never taken much of an interest in her until she began to show some magical ability at age seven. He was a warlock, a wizard who had used his magic in ways that caused the Circle to place a death sentence on him. Occasionally they still sent out their mage hunters to track him down. Of course he had always managed to stay one step ahead of them.

Since she was fifteen years old when her mother had died Sooraya had been traveling with her father learning from him and assisting him in his work. He was a mercenary, someone who would do absolutely anything for a payout and didn't care what he had to do or who got hurt in the process. He was a ruthless man and tried to turn his daughter into the same.

In some ways he had largely succeeded. Inside an abandoned office building on the outskirts of Seattle she tended to her father's creations without batting an eye. It had stopped bothering her years ago that he used human remains. When she stopped caring entirely about the people he killed to acquire those remains she knew he would be proud of her. It wasn't like her own hands were completely clean of blood. They hadn't been for a long time now.

The door that led to the second floor suddenly burst open surprising the biracial beauty. Her father came in at almost a run, a predatory smile on his face that sent a wave of unease through Sooraya.

"One of the detection spells triggered. We've got that slippery little bitch now!" said her father with a greedy glint in his eye. Sooraya already knew he was thinking about the money they would collect.

Luke Taylor was a tall, dark and dangerous man of imposing bearing who was well into his middle years. His eyes were the color of grey storm clouds and could be terrifying to behold. For all of his education and magical power he had never been able to shed his poor London roots, his scarred face and knuckles evidence of his checkered early years. He was handsome in a rough kind of way and absolutely relentless in getting whatever he was after. Sooraya had often mused that being loved by her father was like being loved by a vicious and dangerous pitbull.

And the pitbull had picked up the girl's scent. It was only a matter of time now.

The exotic young woman felt a moment of pity for the unfortunate young witch but pushed the feeling aside with ease of practice. Like her father had told her about their targets so often, she was nothing but a payday. A meal ticket. If they succeeded in this job they might never have to work again. More than worth it any way you wanted to slice it.

"What city did the alarm go off on?" asked Sooraya.

"Port Angeles," he answered with a broad grin "If we load up the buses now we should be able to get there in three hours. Then after we give what's left of her to the Volturi we can take a nice long vacation in the fucking Bahamas. How does that sound?"

"Sounds pretty good father," she answered with a small smile. A vacation did sound very good.

"Hurry up and load the buses. We leave in ten minutes."

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Bella was doing her best to enjoy dinner at the nice but casual restaurant Edward had brought them to. The food was very good but the whole thing felt a little awkward especially since Edward hadn't bothered to order anything. He was just looking at her while she ate which was weirding her out just a little bit.

"Isn't it a bit, you know odd that you're not having anything to eat? People here might think you have an eating disorder," she teased between bites.

"It's really not necessary. Besides I prefer to keep my attention on you," he replied.

"Ah, right."

Bella had learned quite a bit more about Edward on the car ride over from Forks. He liked to play the piano and classical novels. Also half the things he said straddled the border between romantic and creepy and Bella found the whole attitude a little off putting. Even with her inexperience with dating she could tell that he was far more into her than she was into him at the moment. Weren't first dates just supposed to be just about getting to know someone? She remembered Alice telling her that Edward would take going on a date extremely seriously. Maybe she should have paid closer attention.

She had also discovered something else about Edward that to Bella was a nearly unforgivable sin; he didn't seem to have a sense of humor. With Victoria when she joked with her or teased her she would always give it right back with interest in a fun way if she was in a good mood. Or for their mutual amusement she would tease and flirt with somebody until they were a gibbering mess all the while giving Bella secretive looks and little smiles letting her in on the joke. Or she would randomly for an hour decide to only speak in quoted lines from a famous book or movie amusing the heck out of Bella and completely bewildering strangers.

She missed Victoria. The two of them just got each other. Idly Bella wondered what the vampire was doing as she picked at her food, wondering how much groveling and begging she would have to do before Tori even deigned to speak to her again after the stunt she pulled on the way out. The more she thought about what she had done the more it felt like she had made a big mistake.

"Is something wrong Bella? You seem distracted," came Edward's voice surprising her out of her reverie.

Right, she was out with Edward. She should be focused on him right? But he was just so serious and gloomy and _boring_. Alice was fun so she knew it wasn't a family thing. Was it sad that she was spending her date out with a guy thinking about her roommate?

She wasn't being very fair to him. Even if things hadn't been all fireworks so far he at least deserved her attention. Just because things had begun a little strangely didn't mean they had to remain that way the rest of the evening. Bella decided to change tactics. If joking and humor weren't his thing maybe he would respond better to interesting conversation.

"No nothing is wrong. Sorry I was just thinking. I was just wondering how you saw yourself, could you tell me a little bit about that?"

"What do you mean?" asked Edward, perhaps a little leery.

"Well the only _special person_ I've known my entire life has been Tori. Far as I can tell she's always embraced the whole 'creature of the night' thing and I know she sees herself as being completely different from humans. Since you and your family go out of your way to blend in with everyday people I was wondering if you saw things any different."

"What we are should not be embraced," replied Edward instantly "our nature is foul and corrupt. Our instincts, our strength are all geared towards bringing death and pain to others. The only hope those like us have of being decent people is to shackle our unnatural impulses for eternity. It is truly a cursed kind of existence," he said earnestly. Bella realized she had inadvertently stepped onto a landmine with her question.

Bella swallowed. "Doesn't sound like you like being what you are much. Isn't there anything you like about your life?"

"No. There is absolutely nothing. Nothing is worth this," he replied. Bella frowned. She supposed she had been right about him being gloomy. Being a vampire certainly isn't what everyone would want but there were certainly some upsides to that kind of life. Well at least he seemed passionate about this conversation.

"Come on now. Eternal life, eternal youth and beauty, strength, enhanced senses? You can't tell me there aren't at least a few fringe benefits."

Edward shook his head. "None of that is worth it Bella."

"They don't seem so bad to me."

"You might think you want those things but you don't. Please trust me on this Bella. In the end none of them mean anything."

"Why not?"

"Because," he said starting to sound frustrated "when we are turned we lose our souls. We lose the thing that makes us children of God. Nothing we do can ever get that back." He said it with such feeling and heartbreak it was almost hard for Bella to watch.

"I don't think you're dammed," Bella said quietly.

"Well then you don't know anything," he replied and Bella could almost physically see him retreat into brooding and unhappiness. It was a sad thing to see and it made Bella want to reach out to him and ease his pain somehow.

After that things settled into an uncomfortable silence. Bella picked at her food wondering what had made Edward despise himself so much.

00

The restaurant was located near the mall. The moderately sized mall was the entertainment and social center of the small city housing everything from many of their restaurants to their biggest movie theater. All of which was very convenient since Edward's idea of a perfect date was the All-American dinner and a movie.

They took a stroll through the mall as they had some time before the movie was scheduled to start. The awkwardness from the talk they had during dinner had somewhat abated but was still noticeable. Bella contented herself by window shopping as she walked next to Edward awaiting some sign from him that his mood had improved enough to want to resume a conversation.

Bella could have tried to lift him out of his mood but she didn't. She didn't think he would appreciate it and she wasn't adverse to a little silence after how badly she felt they'd failed to connect.

Eventually Edward did speak up but it was not on a topic she had even remotely been expecting.

"What do you know about vampires and their mates Bella?" asked Edward quietly.

Surprised by his question she took a minute to think about it. "The theory is that for every vampire there is another one who compliments them perfectly, who completes them in every way. Supposedly vampires can only be mated once and it lasts for all eternity… or for however long both vampires live at any rate."

Edward frowned a little at that. "Why do you say 'supposedly' and 'theory'? These are established facts. Everyone knows them."

Bella had to smile at that. "No, that is vampire _lore_ which is very different from cold hard facts. Come on you've gone to high school how many times? I'm sure they drilled the scientific method into you enough times. It's very romantic but I'd like to see some comprehensive studies done before I'm convinced." Being a witch was in some ways a little like being a scientist. Things had to be absolutely precise and correct or things could go very wrong. Her life had left Bella with a somewhat atrophied sense of romance in favor of practicality.

"Bella, mates are an indisputable fact. I see it every day in my own family," he said talking slowly as if to a child.

Bella's brow furrowed at that disliking the condescending tone. "I'm not disputing that mates exist. Obviously they do, it's one of the very basics of being a vampire. I'm just saying has anyone done a study to see if a vampire whose mate has died can find another one sometime later? Or how do you know multiple people are not potential mates for one vampire? You never know. If your mate is vampire X who's to say it wouldn't have been vampire Y if you had met them first? That's the kind of thing I was referring to."

Edward seemed somewhat disturbed by her line of questioning. "That's not how it works Bella," he said.

"How do you know?" she challenged.

"I just do. As a vampire you feel the pull of the person you are supposed to be with. It is as impossible to argue with as gravity. I already feel the pull of my mate."

Bella's eyebrows rose in surprise at that. "Wait, so you already know who your mate is supposed to be?"

Edward smiled mysteriously at her. "I do. Circumstances just aren't right for us to be together yet."

_Then what the fuck are you doing out on a date with me?_ She yelled indignantly in her head. If he knew who his mate was why the hell had he asked her out in the first place?

"Well, uh good luck with that. And congratulations," she hastened to add now feeling ten times as awkward about their 'date', if you could even call it that now. Bella bit back every sharp word that came to mind because she was afraid it would make things even more awkward. As it was she couldn't wait for the movie to start so it could end and he would take her home.

Seriously, what sort of game was this guy playing at here?

"Actually, part of the reason I asked you to go out with me was that I wanted to talk to you about _your_ mate."

Edward managed to surprise her yet again. "_My_ mate? I'm a human in case you forgot Edward. We don't have mates like vampires do."

"It's true that humans do not have mates with each other the way vampires do. However there are cases where a vampire meets their mate while their mate is still human. Even though one is a vampire and one is a human they are still very much meant to be together."

This was news to Bella. In all her vampire research she had never come across information like that. All of a sudden her irritation at Edward disappeared as her mind tackled this new bit of knowledge. "Really?" she asked, managing to sound amazed and skeptical at the same time.

Edward nodded. "It's true. Carlisle met Esme while she was still human and dying in a hospital. He was her doctor and they had many talks over a couple of months. Eventually they realized they were meant to be together and he turned her to keep her from dying. Then they lived happily ever after, at least insofar as vampires can."

"Wow," said Bella with real wonder in her voice "that is amazing. I had no idea. Esme's great she completely deserves it. Wow." Her mind was blown. Among humans she considered herself something of a vampire expert by necessity. It wasn't every day a new piece of knowledge this big fell into her lap.

"But wait," she said after a moment, taking a mental step back "you said something about _my _mate. What does this have to do with me?"

Edward stopped walking and she stopped with him out of reflex. He looked earnestly into her eyes. "You are one such human who has a vampire for a mate Bella. You may not fully realize it yet but part of you already knows. It knew from the very beginning but you just failed to realize it."

Bella was speechless. Her mouth was dry. "You think I have a vampire mate?" she repeated needlessly, her mind trying to grasp the enormity of Edward's claim.

"Yes I do. In fact I know you do. I'm sure of it," he said. He sounded so full of confidence it was almost enough to make Bella believe him.

"And you think… you think you know who it is?" Bella asked anxiously. She didn't believe him, not really, but the idea was enough to get her heart racing anyway.

"Yes I do," he said smiling and full of confidence "and you do too. You already know deep inside. The real reason I wanted to be alone with you was to help you realize who you are meant to be with."

Bella looked into his golden eyes which looked back at her with hope and expectation. At first she didn't know what he was getting at. Then what he was trying to say seemed to click together in her mind all at once.

"Oh my God," Bella said, bringing her hands to her mouth as if that would somehow keep the words in.

No no no he couldn't be saying that. It couldn't be true. Wasn't her life complicated enough already?

"You're saying _Victoria_ is my _mate_?!" she practically shrieked.

"What? No!" he yelled in shock and indignation.

00

It was well after dark when two large tourist buses parked around the corner from the mall. While the mall was nice, clean and modern it was situated in the middle of the old downtown area of Port Angeles. Less than a block from the shiny complex of shops and restaurants began a dilapidated and dirty section of the city filled with abandoned buildings and people one would do well to avoid in a dark alley. While the buses stood out against the background to the two drivers the urban decay was almost like a second home.

Sooraya linked her mind to the dozens of 'passengers' in her bus and gave them an order. Slowly they shambled out one by one and moved to stand awkwardly in the abandoned lot they had parked next to. The passengers in the other bus her father had been driving did the same. Ignoring the scores of figures she walked up to her father.

"We ready to go?" she asked.

Luke nodded. "The magical alarm she triggered was set up near the mall. As long as she doesn't leave the area the boys will be able to home in on her signature when they get close enough. What I need you to do is conceal us while I get to work."

Sooraya nodded already used to her role. While her father had his specialties she had her own. One of things she excelled at were shrouds, the ability to completely conceal them with magic even while standing in plain sight. Her father needed to go into deep meditation while he worked so he would rely on her for protection while he was under.

Of course even a specialist like him couldn't control all his creations at once; all he could do was give them general orders. Still for all its limitations the magic had never failed to get results before.

"I'll have them spread out to cover the area before sending some boys into the mall where I'm guessing she's at. She won't slip through our fingers."

"What about that vampire she's supposed to have protecting her?"

"Enough of the boys can even bring a vampire down. Besides it's not like I'm intimidated by _vampires_ of all things," he said with a confident smirk.

Trying not to think about what they were doing Sooraya set to work. If all went well by this time next week the two of them would be filthy rich and somewhere far far away from Port Angeles.

00

"_You're saying _Victoria_ is my _mate_?!" she practically shrieked. _

"_What? No!" he yelled in shock and indignation._

Bella however didn't hear a word he said. There was a whooshing sound in her ears and she leaned back against the nearest wall because her legs suddenly started to feel wobbly.

"Oh my God Edward, _why are you putting these ideas in my head_?" she demanded as her eyes stared widely at nothing.

"I didn't!" he protested sounding confused and upset. Once again his response didn't really register with Bella.

She felt lightheaded. There were spots in her vision. There was a whooshing sound in her ears. Bella was pretty sure she was having a panic attack.

"I need to find a bathroom," she said before stumbling off in a random direction.

She was in luck because she hadn't gone more than ten feet before she saw the sign for the restrooms. She accidentally bumped into a few people who gave her dirty looks as she hurried to her destination. Eventually Bella pushed opened the doors and let herself into the sparkling white facilities.

Bella stumbled over to the sink and leaned against the marble counter. This was absolutely crazy. Why was she flipping out? Edward didn't know, he was just making things up and irresponsibly speculating. He was. He absolutely was. Wasn't he?

She knew why she was suddenly hyperventilating and panicking. It was because of the first thing she had felt when the idea had entered her mind.

She had felt hope. Hope and happiness. A wild, heart bursting hope that the two of them were destined to be romantically involved. That they were meant to be together. That Victoria would hold her and love her and never ever leave her, never let her go.

Right then Bella felt betrayed by her emotions because they had just shown her something. They had shown her that her feelings for Victoria went beyond those of just friendship and lust.

_By stars and magic, I'm not in love with her am I? I really really hope not. Because I'm sure she doesn't feel the same way._

She didn't know. Bella had no experience in that area, how was she supposed to know what to label what she was feeling? But her reaction to the idea of her and Victoria being destined to be together betrayed her. She felt for Victoria and it was deeper and more powerful than anything she had previously suspected.

With a shaking hand Bella opened the tap and splashed cold water on her face. With discipline she forced her breaths to slow down and even out. After a few minutes of deliberate breathing she could feel the edges of the panic attack begin to recede. However that still didn't make the heavy stone in her stomach go away.

She had feelings for Tori. She wanted to be with her in more than just the Biblical way. Like, a lot. Which was absolutely terrible since Bella was convinced Victoria would abandon her as soon as she could.

Knowing that she would leave her proved that the idea that Victoria was her mate was a joke. Real mates could never and would never leave each other. Edward was delusional. She'd had enough of this 'date'. Bella was going to go out there and demand he take her home right away. If he threw a hissy fit she would just find her own way back.

She took her time washing her hands and composing herself until she was more or less back together again. It was a struggle but she managed to put on a composed and unaffected face. With her head held high Bella strode out of the bathroom.

Edward was waiting for her looking anxious and concerned. As soon as he spotted her he walked up to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine. Just fine. You just caught me by surprise is all with your… theory," she said but didn't manage to come across as unconcerned as she hoped.

"Bella," he began "you completely misunderstood me. That's not at all what I meant. Though I suppose I understand why you would make that mistake."

"What? What do you mean?" she asked sounding aggravated.

"What I mean is that I think that I…" he began but he trailed off as he noticed that Bella was no longer looking at him. Instead she was looking intently at something behind him.

"What is it?" he asked sounding annoyed.

"That man… there's something wrong with him," she said and her sudden serious tone confused him and set alarm bells off in his head.

He followed her gaze and his eyes settled on a deathly pale man wearing ill-fitting clothes. The man had his entire head covered in a hoddie and kept his head down concealing his face from view. He moved in shaking, jerky steps that looked pained and awkward.

That was when the smell hit him. The 'man', if it could be called that, smelled like a weeks old corpse. It was subtle, nothing a human would be able to pick up, but the smell of death and decay was obvious to a vampire's sense of smell. Edward tensed and stepped protectively closer to Bella.

Bella for her part instantly shed all her melancholy and emotional ruminations when faced with the prospective danger in front of her. She had a bad feeling about this. It had been a while since someone had tried to kill her but she hadn't forgotten how this dance went.

Using her magical senses she stretched them out toward the figure that was slowly making its way in their general direction. The energies she felt coming off the thing walking towards them almost made her gag with disgust. The magic that was powering it was slippery and corrupt, like an opened sewer that made you feel like you might catch some horrible disease just by standing near it. Bella had felt this foul type of magic only once before.

_Necromancy _she thought with an involuntary shudder. As she watched she became aware that the hooded _thing_ wasn't alone. Seeming to melt out of the crowd three more hooded figures appeared. All of them were dressed nearly the same, their faces concealed and moving in awkward shuffling steps.

As Bella watched first one of the creatures and then all of them seemed to angle their bodies towards her. Cold dread went through Bella. She supposed it had been too much to hope for that somehow they hadn't been there for her.

One of them lifted its head to look at her. Milky white dead eyes looked at her from a face that was beginning to show signs of decay. It's face was paper white and it bared rotted teeth at her as it began to move in her direction. Him and his three friends began to move in on Bella like wolves stalking prey.

_Zombies, _thought Bella as fear began to rise up her belly, _why did it have to be zombies?_

00

**Bit of a change of pace coming up next chapter, trying to earn the 'Adventure' tag in this story. Hope you enjoyed this one. What did you think? As always more reviews means I'll update faster :D**


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